


Tag Writing Challenge - MinHwan Universe!AU

by charmandu, eyesofjihoon (taesquared), tagwritingchallenge



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 15:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19976182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmandu/pseuds/charmandu, https://archiveofourown.org/users/taesquared/pseuds/eyesofjihoon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tagwritingchallenge/pseuds/tagwritingchallenge
Summary: 25 Lives!AU where Minhyun and Jaehwan travel in time to find each other





	1. The letter

**Author's Note:**

> About Tag Writing Challenge: It is a challenge that involves a group of writers take turn to complete a fanfic based on a specific prompt. Each writer writes only ONE chapter before passing to the next one. Writers stay anonymous until the fanfic is completed, readers can guess the writers along the way. Check the list of writers for this fic [here](https://twitter.com/WritingTag/status/1153308191553253378?s=20)
> 
> Curious abour our challenge? Hit us on [twitter](https://twitter.com/home) or [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/WritingTag)
> 
> For now, please enjoy ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author: [laquesis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/laquesis/pseuds/laquesis) (since she doesn't allow others to add her as co-creator, I'm gonna drop her account link here if any of you want to visit her other works)

It was by chance - when they met. That’s what Minhyun had thought. It was a happy coincidence, a fortunate accident. He didn’t really believe in fate, not then. 

It was a Friday night, wintertime. The city was bright with lights and the streets were so crowded Minhyun couldn’t even feel how cold it was. He was on his way to meet his friends at their favorite pub from their college days in Hongdae. There was a plan for the night - first they would do a little bit of drinking, then they would go to a club and dance and drink some more, and _“have fun, for once in your life, Minhyunie”_ as Dongho would say. Minhyun wasn’t much for clubbing, wasn’t much for dancing and wasn’t much for drinking, but he wanted to try and have fun, wanted to forget a little bit about how tiring life had been for him, how empty he had been feeling. 

  


Staying home and getting some rest wouldn’t work out; Minhyun hadn’t been able to sleep well in a long time anyways, always troubled by these weird dreams that he could never remember the next day but would constantly wake him up with a feeling of anguish and a pain in the heart. And even if he ended up going back to sleep, it would always be shallow and unfulfilling and he would never feel rested, afterward. 

  


Maybe he really needed to loosen up; to find a distraction, to have some fun. Maybe if he got tired enough his body would give in and finally gift him with a proper night of sleep. 

  


-

  


There was a singer busking with an electric guitar in the middle of the crowd. Minhyun couldn’t see him very well, but he could hear his voice clearly. It was a regular thing, to come across people busking and performing in Hongdae. Minhyun had gotten used to them, and usually would just ignore them and go on with his day, but this guy had somehow sparked his interest. He just sounded _so_ good, and there was something strangely familiar about his voice, something that made Minhyun feel really tempted to stop and hang out for a while, to listen to him a little bit more. He was already making his way to the little gathering of people formed around the musician, having decided to stay a bit, when his phone started to buzz. Jonghyun was there, already. Minhyun left before he could take a good look at the musician’s face.

  


They had fun together, all five of them. They talked about life and work and love and trivial stuff; they drank and complained and in the end he and Jonghyun decided that they were too tired to even go dancing. Dongho and Minki whined and called both of them lame and Aron just looked at them with a disappointed expression. He had a bet with the guys he would find someone to get Minhyun laid that night. "What a waste of good looks" he’d said, jokingly, and Minhyun could only laugh.

  


It was actually pretty late for Minhyun’s standards. He already had left a very concerned Jonghyun at the bus stop and made his way to the metro station after promising he wasn’t drunk and he wouldn’t fall on the rail tracks and die. He was quite tipsy and stumbly and distracted, though, and, before he could’ve tried to prevent it, he ended up tripping over something. Luckily he managed not to fall down, but he did see an object - a small plastic case of some sort - fly away and land a couple of meters in front of him. Minhyun then immediately looked down, searching for the culprit of his accident, and found out it was a guitar case - a pretty solid one - filled with a bunch of other stuff he couldn’t really distinguish at the moment. 

  


“I’m sorry!” Minhyun said as soon as his head processed the fact that he had done something stupid and probably broken something important. He bowed to whoever was the owner of the case, crouching down right away and trying to find the undisclosed, probably-ruined object amidst the sea of walking legs in the crowd. Minhyun had no idea he could even be so clumsy. “I’m gonna fix this!” He added, though he didn’t really know _what_ he was supposed to fix.

  


“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” Someone told him from above and Minhyun assumed that was the owner’s voice. It was a nice voice, a familiar voice, it made Minhyun feel strange. He didn’t know why. Maybe he was just embarrassed. Minhyun looked up, searching for the man in the crowd. But he wasn’t there; he was already crouching down beside Minhyun, a broken _CD_ case in his hand. “Here, I found it.” 

Minhyun looked at the stranger for a couple of seconds before he got up and gave Minhyun a hand to help him stand. 

He was just a boy. Younger than him by a few years, maybe. Smaller than him, also. And there was something about his face, something Minhyun couldn’t quite grasp. It was like he knew that face.

“I know your face.” Minhyun didn’t mean to say it out loud. He didn’t know what was going on with him tonight.

  


“I play here almost every weekend… maybe you’ve seen me before?”

  


Oh. So he was the guy from earlier, of course. Minhyun remembered he didn’t get to see his face, though? Or maybe he did and he forgot; he doesn’t doubt it, being in the state he was in. This whole drunken situation was too abnormal to him, so every ounce of alcohol that went into his body this night probably had an increased effect. He would never do this again.

“Yeah… yeah, probably.” Minhyun thought he said. He looked at the boy again. He was _too_ familiar. Maybe he really had seen him before. He had a nice face, _the face of someone good_ , he thought, wondering if it made sense. He looked young, looked soft, somehow. Looked too _familiar -_ again. It was a bit unsettling, even.

He then remembered the _CD_ in the boy’s hand and took a look at it. It only said KIM JAEHWAN in both Hangul characters and Latin alphabet, and there was a photoshopped landscape painting behind the lettering. The plastic was cracked, as if someone had stepped over it, and that made Minhyun feel really bad for a moment. He then looked at the guitar case - there were some coins inside it along with a few scattered _won_ bills and a few more albums with that same cover art. There was a microphone set over an amplifier, a mic stand, and an electric guitar dangerously leaning on a stool. He was probably getting ready to leave.

  


“Here, let me pay for this” Minhyun said, grabbing his wallet. 

  


“It’s okay. It’s just plastic. I don’t think the diskinside it is damaged or anything.” Minhyun looked at him and he had such a sad smile on his face, Minhyun felt his heart swell and hurt a little bit, he wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he was a sensitive man; always had been. People were always shocked to learn that about him, somehow.

  


“I _want_ to buy it. I heard you sing when I was on my way to see my friends, but I couldn’t stop by because I was late.” He didn’t have to lie. “How much does it cost?”

  


“Ah… thank you? It’s only ten thousand _won_ …” The boy said with a hesitant voice. “I hope you enjoy it. It’s all my original music, I wrote and composed everything and my friend helped me produce it.” He continued, sounding a little less sad and little bit prouder. “The audio quality could be better, so I’m sorry about that. We didn’t have that much money to invest, being struggling musicians and all...” He laughed quietly, making finger quotes. 

  


“That’s great... Kim Jaehwan...ssi?” Minhyun said as he read the name on the album cover once more. Minhyun thought he knew that name from somewhere, but he didn't linger much on it. It was a common name, after all. 

  


“Oh, yes, sorry I didn’t introduce myself. Kim Jaehwan, yes” He bowed then offered his hand in the most polite way possible and Minhyun found everything very endearing. 

  


“I’m Hwang Minhyun. And _I’m_ the one who’s sorry for messing your stuff up and breaking your album. Truth is I’m not really sober at the moment.” They shook hands, both chuckling at Minhyun’s remark. It was a cute look on Jaehwan, Minhyun believed. “I promise this isn’t a common occurrence, I don’t ever drink like this.”

  


“Nice to meet you, Minhyun-ssi. Hope you like my music.” He offered Minhyun a slight smile. There was a dimple on his left cheek, Minhyun noticed. 

  


“I’m sure I will,” Minhyun said, looking at his watch. He had to run if he wanted to catch the last train home.

  


-

  


The next day had Minhyun woke up with a full-fledged migraine. It still hadn’t stopped him from wanting to do his weekly hard-cleaning, though - it was actually something cathartic for him, in a weird way. He remembered the boy from the streets and decided to put his album to play in the old _CD player_ he hadn’t used for centuries to serve as background music; but as soon as he heard the first few words sung by the boy he couldn’t really concentrate on cleaning anymore. The voice was beautiful, it was trained and it was emotional and there was something evocative about it, something appealing, something - again - _familiar_ . The lyrics told stories of love, stories of loneliness and coming of age. It was poetic but not pretentious. It was simple. It was _personal_ . Minhyun kind of felt like an intruder, listening to him. Like a _voyeur_. 

  


He uploaded the songs to his phone and listened to them again and again - before he went to sleep, after he woke up from another restless night, the following day. He listened to them on his way to work and he listened again on his way back home.

  


He started to imagine the boy’s - _Jaehwan’s_ \- face every time he heard him sing. He imagined his downturned eyes, his diamond-shaped lips. He’d seen him once, at night, but he still remembered his features. Vividly. It was weird, but Minhyun did feel like he knew him. Like they met in another lifetime or something like that. But he knew that was just how good music, how good _art_ , worked. It would trick you into thinking you knew the artist, and that somehow they knew you, too.

  


But Minhyun wanted to _actually know_ him. Wanted Jaehwan to know him back, somehow.

So the next Friday found him at Hongdae again.

Jaehwan smiled when he saw him.

The rest was history.

  


-

  


The first time they slept together was also the first time Minhyun had a full night’s sleep in years. He woke up feeling incredible; invincible, really. He didn’t know he could ever feel this good again.

  


Minhyun found out the two of them were completely different - but in a _good_ way, he didn’t really know how to explain it. He initially found it funny, because Jaehwan’s personality wasn’t at all what he expected it to be the first time they met - he was complex and talented and caring, but he was also bright and hilarious and clumsy and incredibly passionate. Minhyun remembered Jaehwan’s quiet demeanor and his sad smile from that night in Hongdae. “ _It was just a really bad night.”_ he’d told Minhyun, weeks after they had started seeing each other. “When we met. I had just been rejected for a record deal. Again.” 

  


Jaehwan kept pursuing music, despite the odds being against him. He was 23, _“too old to be a trainee, too young to give up”_ he would tell Minhyun with a smile. He worked as a guitar teacher for little kids; had his busking gigs here and there and he would sing at bars some nights and at his church most Sundays. He was incredibly driven; he was a _dreamer_ , and that made Minhyun fall for him even deeper.

  


Minhyun used to be a dreamer, too, when he was younger. He had a wild imagination, always making up different scenarios in his head, always creating new stories. These weird dreams of his had always been there, though they weren’t as constant and they used to be harmless - he used to be able to sleep. He could never fully remember the dreams then, too, but they would linger in his mind the rest of the day, just the traces of it. Minhyun would try to remember by writing down any memory of them that came to his mind. They were mostly scattered words, which he would try to piece together and make up different stories. He loved it. It made him happier. 

Then he grew up. No writing for him, anymore. He would have to wake up. His father needed him at the company. Minhyun was too pragmatic, anyways; too tidy and put together - not really writer material. He’d accepted his fate easily, majored in economics with honors and he’s been working for his father ever since. It’s been almost four years now. The dreams kept on, though, growing more often, growing more damaging, stopping him from sleeping well, giving him a sensation of emptiness, like something was missing. He didn’t even try to remember them anymore. 

Until Jaehwan came to his life and it felt like fate.

Minhyun could finally sleep again, but Jaehwan made him dream another kind of dream. Made him feel like he’d been _living_ in a dream, sometimes. It was like that with them; Minhyun helped keep Jaehwan a little more grounded and Jaehwan helped Minhyun soar. They weren’t perfect; from time to time they would argue with each other, mostly over trivial things, and it was only natural, with them being so different. But it was still incredible and it was kind of scary, sometimes, how Jaehwan made Minhyun feel. He’d always been a romantic, but he never thought he would love like this, he would _be loved_ like this. He’d wondered if it was because it was still relatively early in their relationship - they were about to complete one year together, yet sometimes it would feel they’ve known each other for an eternity. And somtimes it would feel like their first time, all over again.

It felt like fate. It felt like forever.

But both of them had busy routines and the school Jaehwan worked at was on the other side of the town. His little studio apartment wasn’t really very close to Minhyun’s condo either, so they only slept at each other’s homes once or twice a week, sometimes less. It wasn’t enough, for him. There was this strange sense of longing Minhyun felt when they were apart; every time they got to meet again it was like they hadn’t seen each other for ages. Sex between them was incredible and intense and there was always a sense of urgency and it could be overwhelming. Sometimes Minhyun would suddenly feel like something was about to take Jaehwan away from him and then he would hold him tighter, he would love him harder, he would kiss him deeper. Like he was trying to make him stay, so he would feel complete again. He made Minhyun feel complete and it wasn’t very healthy, he knew it, but it was how it was. It felt right; it felt like it was supposed to be. He was happy that way.

  


-

  


They were in Minhyun’s apartment when it happened. 

  


Jaehwan had just returned from visiting his parents and some other distant relatives. Minhyun didn’t really know much; Jaehwan rarely talked about his family and Minhyun hadn’t even met them yet. He didn’t fret much about it, though, because he hadn’t introduced Jaehwan to his parents either. Something about the idea scared him, somehow. Minhyun’s parents were strict and kind of closed off and Minhyun didn’t want to risk any kind of conflict. They knew about Jaehwan, of course, but it didn’t really seem like they were interested in knowing more. Maybe it was for the best. He was happy enough that his best friends loved Jaehwan and Jaehwan’s friends seemed to love him, too. 

  


But it had been a wonderful night. They went ice-skating and they fell down a hundred times and they laughed a hundred times and they went back to Minhyun’s place and kissed and made love and cuddled and fell asleep. 

  


It was only a few hours after when Minhyun woke up, startled by an abrupt movement. He looked at the other side of the bed only to find Jaehwan sitting up, breathless and trembling, his hands gripping the bedsheets. There was sweat dripping off from his neck and his naked back was cold and damp when Minhyun touched it in a confused attempt to make him feel better, trying to ground him. His eyes were unfocused when Minhyun looked at them.

  


Minhyun was still puzzled and dizzy with sleep and a bit scared. Jaehwan had started wheezing and there were tears in his eyes, now. Minhyun didn’t know how to proceed - what was happening? - He thought about panic attacks and seizures and even worse, more dangerous situations. He was starting to wake up for real and with that he was starting to panic, too. He had to do something, he needed to call for help -

  


“N-nightmare.” Jaehwan had stuttered, sounding out of breath, and it was as if he was reading Minhyun’s mind, as if he was trying to attenuate Minhyun’s worries. Then Minhyun felt Jaehwan’s cold body move and reach for the bedside table and turn on their night lamp and, right after that, Jaehwan just took Minhyun’s face between his hands. For a short moment, Minhyun though Jaehwan would kiss him, as weird as it may have seemed, but then he just… started _feeling_ Minhyun’s face with his fingers; staring at him with such a strange look, a look of disbelief, as if he needed to make sure Minhyun was really there. As if he needed to make sure Minhyun was _Minhyun_. Then he just burst into tears and loud sobs and his grip was so strong on Minhyun’s arm that he was sure it would bruise. Minhyun was at a loss; the only thing he could do was to bring Jaehwan’s body even closer to his own and hold him tight and stroke his hair and whisper words of comfort, words of love.

They stayed like that for a long time, until both fell back asleep.

  


Jaehwan was already gone, when Minhyun woke up. There was a sticky note on the fridge. “A student called. Had to go. Love you tons.”

  


  


There was a little heart drawn on the neon-pink paper. Minhyun couldn’t help but smile. He was okay. Everything was okay. 

  


-

  
  


It was a Friday night, wintertime. Minhyun was out of the subway station and heading home after a particularly stressful day of work, quietly thanking the heavens the week was over. He smiled; happy he was finally going to see Jaehwan again after two weeks of barely communicating with him. Minhyun had missed him terribly, maybe a bit too much, even, but it was the longest they’ve been without seeing each other after they’d started dating and Minhyun was afraid they were really starting to get a little codependent. He didn’t really mind it at all, though, as long as they got to be together, in the end.

  


Jaehwan had been exceptionally busy with his multiple gigs during the week; and on the weekend he had to travel to Jeju to perform at a wedding. They weren’t even able to talk on the phone that much, just a few messages here and there, and when they did talk; Minhyun couldn’t help but notice that Jaehwan sounded a little off, a little sad. It had Minhyun worried, had him remember Jaehwan’s weird, unexplained fit during that night two weeks ago. But when he asked Jaehwan if he was alright, his boy told him not to worry, told him he was _“Just pretty exhausted, Minhyunie. I just need to rest and I’ll be okay. I love you.”_

  


And Minhyun would just let him sleep.

  


So he was happy and excited to finally see Jaehwan again. He got out of the elevator and arrived at his floor only to find his next-door neighbor; an eccentric-looking older man, maybe in his 60s, standing at the door, apparently fiddling with his mail. The man had always seemed harmless and nice, though Minhyun rarely saw him and didn’t know his name. But this time, when he greeted Minhyun, he had this odd expression on his face. It was almost a smile, but there was something strange about it, something melancholic and unsettling, as if he knew something Minhyun didn’t, and it made Minhyun feel weird, made him feel like something _wasn’t quite right_. He found himself a bit anxious, he didn’t know why, but he tried to shake the feeling off, bowing to the man, trying not to frown too much, then opening his door. 

  


Minhyun made sure to lock it after he got inside his apartment. He took his shoes off, and then bent over to place them in a little nook on the floor. 

There was a piece of paper placed carefully on his doormat.

  


It was a letter.

Minhyun immediately felt his heart skip a beat. He felt scared, he felt nauseous, something was wrong, something was _so wrong_ . He didn’t know why he felt like that, it was _just a letter_ ; it could be _anything_. 

_But still._

He spent a good minute just standing there, looking at the envelope lying on the ground, until he gathered enough courage to open it, his hands shaking, his stomach churning. He felt the tears forming in his eyes. 

It was from Jaehwan, he knew it. He knew there was something wrong, he just _knew_. 

  
  
  


“I have to go. It wasn’t your fault, you are perfect -

But I need to go. Please forgive me. Please forget me. Please be happy.” 

  


Minhyun felt his knees give out. 


	2. The machine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the author:  
> I apologize for making Minhyun cry so much. ;~;  
> Please support the remaining authors and enjoy the ride!

Minhyun woke up with his face pressed into the rough fibers of the carpet. He sat up with a gasp—it was already morning.

“Jaehwan.” 

He looked down and in his hand was the crumpled up piece of paper, a cruel reminder of what had happened before he passed out in tears.

“Jaehwan!”

Minhyun scurried from room to room, calling out to his boyfriend and desperately hoping that this was all an elaborate joke done in utterly poor taste. Maybe he had just dreamed it. Or maybe Jaehwan had gone out. Maybe he was busking on the streets of Hongdae and any second he would come in through the door with his old guitar and that sheepish grin and—

Maybe he was home.

Minhyun bolted out into the cold, unflinching in the face of crisp winds and the disgruntled neighbor who had to work the Saturday morning shift. He got in his car and ignored several speed limits as he raced to Jaehwan’s apartment.

He sprinted up the stairs to Jaehwan’s floor—“Lucky seven,” Jaehwan had said when he first came over—and buzzed the doorbell once, then twice, then several more times, each time calling for Jaehwan with increasing agony, until Jaehwan’s neighbor poked her head out into the hallway at the ruckus. 

“He’s gone,” the woman snapped, disregarding Minhyun’s panic-stricken face. “Packed up his things last night and woke up the entire _building_ with the noise.”

_“Gone?”_ Minhyun blanched and felt the bile rising up his throat once more. “Do you...do you know where he was heading?”

The woman scoffed. 

“Haven’t a clue. Good riddance if you ask me,” she sneered. “I can finally get some peace and quiet around here without him singing all the damn time.”

She slammed the door before Minhyun could respond. He felt new tears begin to fall now, and slid down into a crouch in the middle of the hallway. He buried his head in his arms, the letter remained tightly crushed in his hands. He began to sob as he unraveled the creases to read over the letter again. 

And again. 

And again. 

_“I have to go.”_

As much as he tried to deny it, he knew Jaehwan wouldn’t do this as a prank. He wouldn’t just pack up and leave without a trace for the sake of a stupid prank.

Minhyun just knew. And Jaehwan was too good for that. Something was wrong and Minhyun felt more lost than ever.

He drove back to his apartment in a daze, still in shock at the impending reality. When he returned, he collapsed onto the couch with Jaehwan’s words ringing in his ears. 

_“Please forgive me.”_

_“Please forget me.”_

_“Please be happy.”_

He threw the letter to the floor and buried his nose into the crooks where the cushions met. If he inhaled hard enough, he could still pick up the faint scent of Jaehwan, and when he did, the memories flooded over him. 

Memories of lazy dinner dates on this couch with cheap and oily take-out food. Memories of movie nights that usually ended with fleeting touches and insatiable desires. 

Memories of daydreaming about a life with Jaehwan. 

_Jaehwan._

_Jaehwan._

_Jaehwan._

_Fuck,_ he was crying again. He sobbed into the letter and his tears soaked into the crinkling paper.

_God, why does this hurt so much?_

It was like a gaping hole had burned its way into his heart and no amount of tears could extinguish the pain. He cried until he blacked out from exhaustion, praying still that it was all a joke. Praying that Jaehwan would miraculously be the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes again. 

Praying that the nightmare would end.

***

_jaehwan_

_baby_

_whatever it is i did i'm sorry_

_i just wanna know why_

_please come back_

_please_

***

The dreams were more vivid now. And as if it was a sick joke from the universe, assuming he remembered what he dreamed about, he dreamed of Jaehwan. 

Jaehwan singing. Jaehwan laughing. Kissing him. Holding him. 

Perhaps it was because he fell asleep to Jaehwan's songs every single night—after all, they were some of the only remains of his voice that Minhyun had left. He listened to them obsessively, petrified that if he didn’t, he would forget what Jaehwan sounded like. His beautiful singing. His boisterous laugh. His gentle sweet nothings.

Sometimes he fell asleep while replaying the videos he took of Jaehwan smiling as he spoke to Minhyun behind the camera. 

Those hurt more to watch.

Most of the time, he just cried himself to sleep. He cried so much, he felt utterly pathetic. And when he woke up, still there were unshed tears in his eyes. No longer did he feel invincible in the morning; now he felt powerless, _weak_ , and sleeping became a nightly torture. 

The dreams felt so real, so _alive,_ as if he were simply replaying deeply embedded memories like a movie in his head. 

He wished he could just stay asleep. Because at least in his dreams, Jaehwan was there, and it was like everything was the way it should be.

***

Minhyun began to lose himself. 

He began to drink more, which led to him waking up at odd and unhealthy hours, sometimes in the middle of the night with no recollection of what happened before he fell asleep. Every time he woke up, he felt a crushing hollowness in his chest and it was like he was drowning in a recurring nightmare, over and over. He wondered if this was why his friends enjoyed going to bars so much—the alcohol really helped to dull the piercing edge of that hole in his heart.

He began to skip work days, ignoring the accumulating number of worried messages from his coworkers and the more reprimanding ones from his father. He began to eat less, his face becoming more and more sallow, his already skinny frame only looking more and more emaciated.

He began to find some twisted, masochistic pleasure in driving to Jaehwan’s apartment once, and sometimes even twice a day. He foolishly hoped that Jaehwan would magically be there, sitting out in front singing, writing music, doing something, _anything,_ and Minhyun would tearfully run up to him and beg for him to never leave him again. 

Things would go back to the way they should be.

But of course, every time, Jaehwan was nowhere to be seen. The note remained crumpled in his hands and the tracks of tears were renewed on his face. 

A few days after Jaehwan’s disappearance, Minhyun drove by the apartment and saw a monstrous truck in the parking lot. A new family was beginning to move into the vacant space. 

Minhyun didn’t come back after that.

***

He asked around. He asked Jonghyun, Aron, Dongho, Minki... 

Everyone shook their heads, worried when Minhyun burst out crying in their arms, and they quickly began their own search efforts.

He asked Jaehwan's friends—Daniel and Seongwoo—but even they were unaware of Jaehwan moving away until Minhyun brought it up. 

"I didn't know he was even _planning_ to move," Seongwoo frowned. 

“We haven’t spoken to him in a while,” Daniel added, with a promise that they’ll keep an eye out.

No matter who he asked, the response was the same. No one knew where Jaehwan was, nor did they have any clue where he could’ve run off to.

Minhyun was beginning to think Jaehwan had fled the country. 

At first the inquiries were the same.

"When did you see him last?"

"Were you guys fighting?" 

"Maybe he needed a break."

Minki said that last one and by God did Minhyun want to punch his delicate face when he did.

But then one night, not even a week after Jaehwan had disappeared and when Minhyun had now fallen into the whirlpool-like allure of hard liquor and crashing on Jonghyun's couch after—

"Jaehwan would never let me drink," Minhyun rasped, his words coming out painfully scratchy and hoarse. "Said it brings out the worst in people."

He took another shot as if to spite his boyfriend—ex-boyfriend's—words. 

"But he was wrong," he growled. "Alcohol doesn't bring out the worst in people. People bring out the worst in people." He narrowed his eyes at the shot glass, willing it to crack and shatter right there on the counter.

"Fuck you, Jaehwan."

Jonghyun worriedly pried the empty glass out from Minhyun's fingers. 

"Hey. That's enough, you'll drink yourself sick."

"And so what," Minhyun replied, waving the bartender over. "Scotch on the rocks, please."

The bartender shared a worried glance with Jonghyun. 

"It's for me," Jonghyun said, sending a placating smile in her direction.

She hesitated, but left to go make the drink.

Minhyun smirked with a sinister expression. "Maybe if I drink enough, I'll begin to hallucinate. Maybe then I can see him and it'll be as if he never left."

"Alright, that’s enough. You've been rattling about this guy since we got here. Who's Jaehwan?"

Minhyun wrinkled his brow, at first stunned— _Did he just ask who…—_ and his face darkened with cold anger. But then he smiled.

"Ah, alright. I see you."

Jonghyun's eyes widened. "What?"

"You're doing what Minki does." Minhyun wagged his finger at his friend. "You're doing that thing where you pretend my ex doesn't exist and it's supposed to be therapeutic or some shit."

"What, no, I'm not, I—" 

Minhyun howled with an ugly laughter. "That's rich. You think you're so slick! You really think..." He gasped, feeling somewhat delirious. "You think that's going to work? I can’t believe it."

"Min, you're scaring me," Jonghyun warily looked around and a few nearby customers were beginning to stare with discomfort. 

"Is this because you never liked him to begin with?" Minhyun angrily pressed an accusing finger into Jonghyun's chest. "Is it because he was never that clean and would leave his socks scattered around your apartment? Did you hate that he was loud and obnoxious even though he never meant any harm? Is it because you couldn't stand the fact that he preferred to busk until 1 in the morning instead of finding an actual job with an actual paycheck, or is it—"

"Minhyun!" Jonghyun exclaimed, his jaw tightened into an impatient scowl. _"Who's Jaehwan?_ I don't know a Jaehwan. I don't think I've ever even _met_ a Jaehwan!"

Minhyun was about to explode into another heated tirade when he actually stopped, paused through his delirium to stare at his friend's face. He gaped; there was no trace of malice in Jonghyun's eyes as he had originally suspected. There was only confusion. Panic. Worry. And fear.

"Who—who's Jaehwan," Minhyun parroted. "My boyfriend, Jonghyun. My ex now, I guess, but he—" Minhyun's thoughts began to race and he felt as if he was drowning again. "You saw him two weeks ago!"

But Jonghyun only blinked. 

"You had a boyfriend?"

"I—" Minhyun clenched his hands in front of him. "Are you fucking with me right now, Jonghyun, I've brought him to your apartment at least five times!"

"No, you didn't," Jonghyun replied in his deadly calm. "Ever since I've known you, you have never brought anyone else over unless it was Minki or Aron-hyung." 

Minhyun shook his head. "You're screwing with me. If this is a joke between you and the others, it's not funny. How dare you try to make light of this, it's not funny! _I loved him!"_

"Minhyun," Jonghyun reached for his arm and Minhyun flinched.

"Don't touch me." 

"I'm just asking for an explanation! You've never mentioned _anyone_ by that name and now all of a sudden you're saying you loved the guy?"

_"He_ broke up with _me_ ," Minhyun hissed, acid in his voice. "And I have no idea why, nor do I understand this game you're trying to play."

"It's not a _game,_ Minhyun, I _swear,_ I don't know of anyone named Jaehwan. I told you."

Minhyun made to get out of his seat, but Jonghyun gripped onto his arm.

"Let go."

_"No,_ Minhyun, I want to help!"

"You've done enough," Minhyun yanked his arm out of his friend's hold. 

_“I haven’t done anything!”_ Jonghyun’s voice cracked. His face turned red with anger. 

"You make me sick,” Minhyun spat, venom in his voice. “You knew how much he meant to me, you knew how much I loved him, and now you go and do this.” He scoffed. “Go home, Jonghyun. I don't want to see you right now."

"I need to drive you home, you prick," Jonghyun growled with a furious calm. "I'm not letting you poison yourself just because you want to be pathetic and hallucinate your _make-believe boyfriend!"_

In a fit of rage, Minhyun picked up the shot glass and shattered it onto the ground, eliciting gasps from all around him. His shoulders heaved with labored breaths, his eyes clouded with barely-contained fury.

"You take that back." 

Jonghyun took a fearful step back.

"Minhyun..."

_"Take that back!"_

He lunged, but was immediately held back.

"Sir, you need to leave. You're causing a disruption."

Minhyun tried to wring himself out of the guard's grip but the burly man kept a firm hand on his arm.

"Sir, I'll ask you again. Please leave, or I'll have to call the police."

Minhyun gritted his teeth and twisted sharply until the guard let him go. With a final glare at his friend, he threw some bills on the counter and fled into the street.

***

It was the same everywhere he went. Naturally by the time he spoke to Dongho, Minki, and Aron, Jonghyun had already told them what happened at the bar—and they were far from pleased. They unquestionably sided with Jonghyun and replied with curt, dismissive answers which honestly stung a little, but they all had one thing in common.

Like Jonghyun, they swore on their lives that they didn’t know anyone named Jaehwan, which quickly devolved into outright interrogation and everyone probably thinking Minhyun had officially lost it (if they didn’t already).

Still in disbelief, he asked Daniel, Seongwoo, and even Sewoon, Jaehwan's university classmate with whom he composed a song with. Every single one of them looked at him with disgusting pity and infuriating confusion.

_"Who's Jaehwan?"_

He too thought he was going mad. It was as if Jaehwan was erased from everyone's memories, out of time, as if he never existed. 

On one particularly bad night, one filled with tasteless alcohol and too many uncomfortable attempts from others to hook up, Minhyun stumbled into his apartment and nearly collapsed in the elevator. His vision was blurry and he felt himself sway from one side of the hall to the other. Every step was painful and nothing made sense.

Jaehwan’s songs continued to play in his head. 

Before he knew it, the last thing he saw before he blacked out only a few steps away from his door was the old man in his striped robe running towards him.

  


***

When he came to, the air was blanketed with a strange aroma, an oddly therapeutic concoction of spices and firewood. He was lying on top of a hardwood floor—his apartment was carpeted. 

He sat up and felt a pulsing migraine permeate through his skull. 

"You're awake."

Minhyun instinctively flinched back when the old man emerged from the shadows.

"You."

He hadn't meant to address his neighbor so rudely but he had just come out of sleep and felt oddly refreshed for the first time in weeks. 

"Sandalwood," the old man remarked with a smirk. "Helps you calm down."

He handed him a mug of something warm from a nearby tray. 

"Chamomile."

Minhyun took the cup and warily sniffed at the golden liquid. It smelled normal enough, not that he'd be able to say what poison smelled like. He took a sip and the liquid trickled its way down his throat, soothing him down immediately. 

"Thank you,” he said with the first traces of a smile.

The old man smiled and took a seat in the armchair.

"You brought me here, didn't you?"

The man nodded.

Minhyun stood up and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry for intruding."

The man didn't respond but merely ran his spindly fingers through his beard. His gaze wavered down and Minhyun looked down, self-conscious. 

"The connection," the man mumbled with his gaze fixed on his guest. "Has been severed."

"I beg your pardon?"

The man stood up and reached for Minhyun's hand. Too dazed and confused to resist, Minhyun let him.

"Your string," he held his hand higher, as if the spaces between his fingers held the secrets to immeasurable fortunes. "Is broken."

The man peered into Minhyun's face. His old eyes were curious and oddly innocent, the grooves at the corners deep with secrets learned through time. 

"You've lost someone. Someone very important.”

Minhyun’s breath hitched.

“A boy..."

Minhyun suddenly gasped and the surge of pain from before returned stronger than ever.

"He is no longer of this world," the man continued, and Minhyun feared the worst. He felt his knees give way and tightly gripped the man's hand with all his remaining strength. He could barely utter the words.

"H-he's dead?"

The man shook his head with a sad smile.

"No. He is no longer in this time."

The man let go and Minhyun nearly buckled to the floor. His head spun. 

"What do you mean, _in this time?"_ Minhyun whispered. "Where is he?"

The man sat back down in his chair, twirling a fingers through his moustache.

"A thousand-year sin is born again," he riddled. "The mistakes of the past come to haunt the children of the future."

"I don't understand,” Minhyun protested. “Jaehwan did nothing wrong.”

"The universe never forgets," the man replied, calm as ever.

In the silence that followed, Minhyun remembered Jaehwan's letter—three words blaring deeply inside the crevices of his mind. 

_Please forgive me._

"What did he do?"

The man stared at him.

"You know something. Don't you? You know what he did. You know where he is."

"The answers you seek are not for me to give."

"Then where do I find them?"

The man smiled, and Minhyun remembered it was the same unsettling smile he wore the day Jaehwan disappeared. 

"Did he come to you?"

The man didn't respond. 

Instead he stood up and padded forwards, his gaze focused on something behind him. Minhyun turned and for the first time noticed the clockwork device on the table, full of switches and levers and wires connecting every which way. 

Minhyun didn’t know what it was. The man picked up the helmet which was attached to the device, and handed it to Minhyun. He stared at the contraption but his fingers were already reaching out to hold it. 

"What’s this?”

The man looked down as if the object in his hands was a precious treasure, almost as if it was a child he couldn't bear to part with.

"The answers you seek," he replied, and looked up to stare Minhyun straight in the eyes. Despite his shorter stature, his gaze was piercing and it pinned him in place. His stare was hypnotic and _oh,_ when did Minhyun sit down again?

"This will take me to Jaehwan?" Minhyun almost laughed, incredulous, but the man's expression was grave. His voice was low when he spoke, and Minhyun could see there was something he wasn't telling him.

"The connection," he said, unblinking. "Can be reformed."

_Jaehwan._

"Sins...can be forgiven."

Minhyun’s mind raced with questions but he couldn’t figure out how to utter them. 

_What did he do?_ _Why did he disappear? Why is it no one can remember him except me?_

The man turned and took out three fluorescent crystals from a nearby chamber and gently placed them one by one in his palm. The crystals pulsed with mysterious lights and cold white smoke emanated around them.

"Three leaps," the man said. "And no more."

Minhyun looked down. _Three leaps?_

"Fate," the man concluded, placing the helmet onto Minhyun’s head. "...can be rewritten."

Minhyun stared wide-eyed as the man turned on the machine. He gazed once over Minhyun and smiled, again, as eerie and foreboding as ever.

_"Wait!"_

Minhyun was silenced by a surge of energy. A blast, followed by a series of beeps. 

A low whirring followed by the creaking sound of turning gears.

A flash of light, and everything turned to black.


	3. The cherished time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author: [citation (WannaDay)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WannaDay/pseuds/citation) (since she doesn't allow others to add her as co-creator, I'm gonna drop her account link here if any of you want to visit her other works)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little note for the readers: From chapter 2, the old man gave three crystals to Minhyun - these represent three time leaps (one to go back to the past, one to go to the future, and one more to go back to the present). Minhyun used them to find his Jaehwan, but sometimes things didn't happen like what we expected to be.

When he woke up, Minhyun’s head was aching.

It felt like his skull would split apart. Sunlight flooded his vision, blinding him for a few seconds. He shut his eyes again, rolling to his side and trying not to scream through the excruciating pain.

He could faintly hear the sound of birds chirping, could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. He was lying on something soft underneath him, as if cushioning him from a fall.

Time passed when the pain eventually began to ebb away. He opened his eyes slowly, trying to get a hold of his surroundings.

Grass was underneath his fingertips. A bright, vast sky was above him. His head still throbbed, yet he tried to recall everything that had happened.

Minhyun had stumbled into his apartment. He was completely wasted, ready to black out. The old man, his neighbour, was there— And that man— He… He…

_ What had he done? _

Clutching his head, words echoed in Minhyun’s mind. Something about a severed connection. Something about fate being rewritten. About leaps…

_ I’m dreaming,  _ Minhyun concluded.  _ I must be dreaming.  _

But there was something about the way the grass swayed and brushed underneath his fingertips, about how the wind seemed to blow into his face, that made him feel that everything seemed a little  _ too  _ real. He carefully pinched himself. It hurt.

“What the hell…” he muttered. 

Next to him, laying on the ground, were two fluorescent crystals. He picked them up and slipped both into his pocket. He would think about them later.

His eyes had begun to adjust more to the light. He squinted to see the view in front of him, feeling his jaw drop at the sight.

It felt like he had stepped into a movie. He was high up on a hill, the ground sloping down in front of him. Below him, looking like a miniature figurine because he was so up high, was a city.

No…  _ city _ wasn’t the right word. It looked like a kingdom. Like the ones he would see in fairy tales.

It stretched on and on in all directions, filled with buildings of all sizes. They looked like nothing that he had ever seen in Seoul. Seoul was modern with skyscrapers and other polished buildings. The ones he saw in front of his eyes were much shorter, made out of unpainted bricks. Even the painted ones looked simple, even faded. He could see the roads peeking out from some empty areas— and he couldn’t see any cars or trains. High walls stretched all around the kingdom, and somewhere in the far distance he saw an immense lake surrounded by mountains.

He would have stared at the kingdom for hours. He would have stared and stared and stared, taking in the sight and its details as he tried to figure out  _ what in the world was going on.  _ But he was torn from his thoughts when he heard a scream.

It came from behind him, and when he turned around he realized that there was a wall of trees right there. A forest of some kind.

It was a man’s scream— full of victory and even anger. Quickly following it were the sounds of—

Of what? 

Minhyun tried to recall what it was. It was a sound that he had heard in movies, and that one time Jaehwan and him had decided to explore the urban areas outside of Seoul. They had come across a farm where they saw and heard—

_ Horses. _

Two of them had appeared from the shadows of the forest, both mounted. The horse in front was brown and galloped fast, carrying a woman on its back. The women wore what looked to be a long, white dress that was bunched up to her knees. Her feet were bare, a sword in her hand, and an expression of both determination and terror on her face.

Behind her, still a distance away, was the other horse— this time mounted by a man in dark clothes. He also held a sword in his hand, and it looked like it had been freshly used. It was tainted with red.

The man was catching up. With his other hand, he had grabbed onto something from his belt. With another scream, he threw the new object in the direction of the animal in front of him. It struck the ground near the horse’s feet.

The horse let out a cry and stood up on its hind legs, arching its back. The woman clung on for a bit before losing her hold and falling onto the ground with a harsh thud.

Minhyun only had a few seconds to get the gist of what was going on. He was already on his feet by then, running towards the woman as her horse galloped away.

The man was getting close—  _ too close.  _ Minhyun felt the blood roaring in his ears as he saw that the woman was struggling to climb back to her feet. The fall must have knocked the air out of her lungs. Her sword was on the ground, out of arm’s reach where she had dropped it.

Every fibre of Minhyun’s being told him that what he was doing was  _ fucking crazy _ , but his conscience knew that he couldn’t leave someone to die just like that. 

Somehow, by some miracle, he had reached the woman on time. Knowing he was probably insane by then, he bent down to scoop up the sword in his hand. He found the dagger that the man had thrown before, lodged into the ground. He tugged it out too.

He gripped onto the weapons, feeling their weight and noticing how the sun shone brightly on the blade. Standing tall, he faced the new threat in front of him.

The armoured man would reach him soon. Minhyun raised his hand that held the dagger, beginning to aim.

“Run,” said a voice behind him, weak and faint.

He didn’t turn around, but he knew that it was the woman’s voice. “No. I’ll help you.”

“You’ll get yourself killed.”

_ Most probably _ , Minhyun thought. 

“I won’t,” he said.

Heart pounding against his chest, adrenaline running in his veins, he threw the dagger.

It really made no sense how he managed to do it. But he saw everything with his own eyes. The dagger soared through the air— Minhyun had thrown it  _ hard— _ and lodged itself deep into the man’s chest. 

The man let out another scream, this time full of pain. He lost both his grip on the horse and also his balance. He fell over and hit the ground.

But that didn’t stop him. The man unsteadily climbed to his feet, the sword still in his hand, and charged towards them.

Minhyun really should have stood no chance. But something inside him clicked— or snapped— and he stood strong as the enemy got closer and closer.

_ It really really made no sense. _

But the man had swung and Minhyun dodged. He could have gotten stabbed and cut at least a dozen times, but he didn’t. He deflected it all and eventually swung hard enough to knock the sword out of the enemy’s hand.

The man stumbled back before charging again, weaponless. There was a blur that zipped by the corner of Minhyun’s eye and the next thing he saw was the woman wrapping her fingers around the dagger stuck in the man’s chest. 

Minhyun watched with a mixture of awe and terror as the mysterious woman pulled the dagger out, held it out for a split second, and drove it into the enemy’s neck. She then kicked him in the chest, this time making him fall for sure.

The man lay there, barely moving.

“Whoa.” It was all Minhyun could say. He suddenly felt weak, all the energy gone from his body. He had never seen anything like this happen right in front of his eyes.

The woman then turned around. Minhyun tried not to flinch as her gaze seemed to pierce right through him.

She then spoke. “Thank you for holding him off while I gained back my breath.”

“I— Uh— You’re welcome.”

“Where did you learn to fight?”

“I—”  _ Damnit, Minhyun. Speak properly.  _ “I didn’t. I mean— I haven’t fought before. I mean, like this.”

“I see.” There was a silence. The wind continued to blow. The sun continued to shine above them. But then the woman smiled. “Well, good job. You just saved the queen.”

  
  


  
  
  


**_DAY 1_ **

_ So… I might as well write everything. I honestly have no idea what the hell is going on but I’m trying to make sense of things. _

_ That old man. My neighbour. He did something. He put something on my head and I completely blacked out. _

_ So what’s happening to me now? _

_ I think I might be dreaming. Or maybe I’m so badly drugged up and I’m imagining all these…. very real things. Or am I in some sort of computer simulation? Haha… what is this, some sort of sci-fi film?  _

_ But why does everything seem so real? _

_ Time is passing by here. It feels like it’s passing by normally. I count the seconds. I see the sun go down.  _

_ Everything I see looks so real too. I went into the kingdom with…. with the queen. (Seriously, what the hell is going on…) _

_ Back outside the kingdom, she had asked me where I lived and I told her I came from… far away. And that I had no place to stay nearby. So she told me that I could stay at the castle as an honourable guest (for saving her life) until I found a way to go back home. _

_ She was keeping herself disguised so no one recognized her. It was a long walk to the castle (I know, what the hell) so I got to see a lot of things. The roads were made of bricks. The buildings too, some painted white. The sun felt hot too. Everything felt so real. _

_ The odd thing was how I saw no cars. No handphones. No… technology. It’s as if I’ve been thrown back in time or something. _

_ But that’s just ridiculous, right? _

_ While we walked, she told me about what had happened. She was returning from a trip. She was with her guards but they were all attacked. She wouldn’t tell me who attacked her. But all of her guards were killed and she had no choice but to escape by herself. Good thing she could fight though, because I really had no idea how long my luck would have lasted. _

_ So. Back to the kingdom. The queen finally managed to hail a carriage and we rode it the rest of the way. And we made it to the castle, where I’m writing all of this on this journal that I requested from the queen. (She told me she would give me a lot of money as a token of her gratitude, but I just blurted out that I needed something to write down on). Her guards escorted me to one of the guest rooms, and here I am. Writing furiously like a mad man. _

_ I should be freaking out more. I really think I should. I need to find a way to wake up… or gain consciousness. I have no idea what’s happening to me. But the only possibilities were what I said before. I must be dreaming or drugged or something. _

_ I feel tired. And sleepy. It’s already night, or that’s what it appears like. Why do I feel tired? _

_ But I’m staying awake. I have no idea what’ll happen to me if I let my guard down. _

  
  


**_DAY 2_ **

_ Okay so I dozed off yesterday. Haha. I guess being confused and terrified is really that exhausting… _

_ I’m still stuck here. Still in this castle. Still in this...kingdom. _

_ The old man’s words… I’ve been thinking about it over and over. But no matter how much I think about it, I just don’t… understand. A connection? A thousand-year sin? Children of the future?  _

_ But I do know one thing… _

_ Jaehwan must have met the old man too. Because why else would the man know about him? The old man talked about a boy… He was talking about Jaehwan. I just know it. _

_ Does it mean that Jaehwan is here? In this weird world with me? If I’m dreaming, are our dreams connected?  _

_ But the old man kept mentioning about time and how Jaehwan was no longer part of it. Could it be… a time machine? Jaehwan went back in time? Did I go back in time? _

_ It’s too ridiculous. Time travel isn’t real. It can’t be.  _

_ But whatever is going on, I know one thing for sure. _

_ I’m going to look for Jaehwan. No matter what happens. I’ll find him. _

  
  


**_DAY 6_ **

_ I don’t have much to say today. But I’ve spent the past few days exploring the kingdom. I asked around if anyone knew a Kim Jaehwan. _

_ I came back empty-handed. But this is just the beginning.  _

  
  


**_DAY 10_ **

_ Still no good news. _

_ And there is something that I’m concerned with. _

_ If I really am dreaming and trapped in some sort of dream world… what’s happening to my real body now? Am I in a coma? How about food and water and everything?  _

_ Oh god… what about Jaehwan? He’s been missing for so long… If he’s here in this world with me, then what about his own body? _

_ I need to find him soon. As quickly as I can. _

  
  


**_DAY 13_ **

_ Still nothing. Everything around me seems realer than ever.  _

_ Does time in the real world travel at the same speed as the world I’m in now? I feel that my body is still there. But as time passes, I’m not so sure anymore… _

_ How long have I been gone back at home? Do people think that I’m missing? _

_ I’m worried. So, so worried. _

  
  


**_DAY 15_ **

_ Nothing. I also examined the crystals that the old man had given me all those nights ago. I tried tapping it, squeezing it, even letting it hit a little against the desk. Nothing happened. The old man said I had three leaps. One was probably used to get here. But I don’t know how to use the two remaining ones. _

  
  


**_DAY 17_ **

_ I can’t find Jaehwan. Please, let me find him soon. _

  
  


**_DAY 19_ **

_ Please. _

  
  


**_DAY 21_ **

_ PLEASE…  _

  
  


**_DAY 22_ **

_ It’s almost a month now. I can’t believe it. This is insane. This is fucking crazy. This is _

  
  


Minhyun dropped the feather-quill he had been writing with. Ink splattered all over the pages of his journal, even hitting the wooden table that it lay on. He pushed back his chair and abruptly stood up. His hands were shaking as he glanced around his room— the guest room that the queen had given him— and took a few deep breaths. 

He then gazed at the nearby mirror that was nailed to the wall. Walking up to it and standing right in front of it, Minhyun could only stare at his reflection. At his own face that tried to mask the fear he felt deep down.

“This is crazy,” he then finally spoke, right to himself. “This is crazy and makes no sense. But there is the possibility that this is the truth and this is what’s happening to you right now.”

He paused, afraid of admitting it all.

“It might have been a time machine,” he declared. “That weird contraption at the old man’s apartment… It might have been a time machine.”

_ This is fucking crazy. _

“Hwang Minhyun,” he told himself. “You might have been sent back in time. You’re… you’re in the past.”

  
  


  
  
  


Getting over his initial shock wasn’t easy. But now that he thought about it, his terror had been stretched out thinly throughout the whole month. He accepted what was happening little by little. So the whole acceptance didn’t come all at once where it would be unbearable. He somehow was able to cope with it all.

But that didn’t stop the reality that he was confused and worried out of his mind. Never in a million years did he think that something like this was even remotely possible— and it was all happening to him.

Whether it be a dream, some messed up virtual world, or even  _ going fucking back in time,  _ he accepted the fact that he was there, and Jaehwan was there too. It had occurred to him that he might need a contraption  _ here _ to be able to activate the crystals. He had even asked around if anyone knew about it, but everyone looked at him with a confused look. Of course they would, he thought. He would have thought himself as crazy too.

The kingdom was large, and he knew it would take a lot longer to search the entire place. Even so, the urge to leave and search outside— past the gates, past the forest and beyond— grew stronger and stronger with each passing day. Jaehwan could be somewhere out there. Somewhere…

So he made a decision. He would leave the kingdom and continue his search out there.

It was reckless. It was dangerous. It was crazy. But he was going to do it anyways.

Yet a part of him wondered if he really could survive out there. Not only had the queen been attacked previously, but he heard news from the townsfolk. Something big was brewing on, something to do with the royal families. The roads were not safe to be travelled. If one valued their life, they would stay in the safety of the gates.

He pondered about it for the longest time until the queen gave him an offer. 

_ “Minhyun, would you like to train to be a better fighter?” _

His brave and noble act of saving the queen had spread across the castle. Even the head of the guards heard about it, and he was intrigued. He offered to hone and polish Minhyun’s skills. 

Taking it as an opportunity, Minhyun accepted. If he was going to look for Jaehwan in the unfamiliar world, he would need to know how to defend himself.

And in between the training and his continued search inside the gates, time passed by again.

Time passed by until  _ it happened. _

  
  


  
  
  


There had been rumors going around the town about a royal family that would be staying in the kingdom. No one knew why and who. But the rumors were eventually confirmed for those in the castle.

He was in the training grounds with the others when the queen herself approached them. She announced that, indeed, a royal family was coming to seek safety in the castle grounds. Due to issues that she would not disclose, the family needed protection.

The guards were selected to protect each member of the family. And to Minhyun’s surprise, the head of the guard approached him and assigned him to protect the youngest son of the family.

It would have been logical to refuse. He wasn’t an official guard, nor did he train for long. But the head of the guard told him that his skills were exceptional.

In the end, although still feeling that things were odd, Minhyun accepted the role. He had always felt that he couldn’t leave the kingdom yet. He had always felt like he would miss something if he left immediately.

Days later, he would meet the youngest son of the royal family.

When Minhyun received news that the royal family had arrived, he did not expect much.

When the head of the guard informed him that he would meet the youngest son at the castle’s garden, Minhyun did not expect anything.

So when he opened the door to the gardens, squinting his eyes for a bit due to the sun shining brightly above, he did not expect to be shocked.

Surrounded by flowers and staring at the sky was a man. Although he was of royalty, he wore simple black pants and a white long-sleeved shirt. At the sound of the door opening, he glanced in the direction of the noise. Minhyun’s eyes widened.

Standing in front of him was Jaehwan.

  
  


Maybe the world stopped. Maybe time itself stopped. Maybe everything else simply disappeared, because all Minhyun saw was Jaehwan right in front of him.

He couldn’t believe it. All of the time they were separated, and now,  _ now  _ Minhyun had finally found him.

“Jaehwan,” he said, closing the distance between the both of them.  _ “Jaehwan.” _

The moment he reached him, Minhyun pulled him into a hug. 

Relief and a mixture of emotions flooding throughout him, Minhyun held the other boy close. It finally felt like everything was alright. Everything was complete again. All memories of their separation ran in his mind, but they slowly ebbed away.

“You’re okay,” he said, voice choked up. “I finally found you.”

He should have realized that something was off at that moment. Jaehwan did not return the hug, did not say a single word. Seconds had passed until Jaehwan pulled back, and the look in his eyes caused Minhyun’s heart to drop.

Confusion. Surprised. And the worst thing was how he saw no recognition in that gaze.

“I’m sorry,” Jaehwan then said. “Who are you?”

  
  
  
  


**_(I haven’t written in this journal for so long. Without realizing, I lost count of the days. So I’ll write it like this…)_ **

**_DAY ? + 1_ **

_ There’s a saying that there are 7 people in the world that looks just like you. Your doppelgänger. _

_ I think today I met Jaehwan’s. _

_ Except this time, his name is Kim Jaehwan too. And he looks exactly like Jaehwan. Exactly like him. Even his age is the same. _

_ This is the past so maybe… he’s Jaehwan’s great-great-great-great (and so on) ancestor or something? That looks just like him? _

_ Or… here I am trying to recall any story about time travel I know. Maybe this is an alternate universe? This is another Jaehwan from another universe? So I didn’t just go back in time, but I went to another universe? _

_ He doesn’t know who I am. He can’t be the Jaehwan from my universe. My Jaehwan… he’s still somewhere out there. Hopefully in this universe as well.  _

_ This is all just so… odd. _

_ My head hurts. Nothing makes sense anymore. _

  
  


  
  
  


Minhyun knew he had to apologize. 

Being hugged by a stranger was not the best thing that could happen. It probably surprised the _ shit  _ out of this Jaehwan. 

So it was the next morning when Minhyun decided to apologize.

He had been waiting outside Jaehwan’s room, just like he was ordered. He had to be on standby for the other man from the time Jaehwan stepped out of his room all the way till he retired at night again.

Minhyun nearly jumped when the door finally creaked open. With messy hair and a hand rubbing his eyes, Jaehwan stepped out.

He was  _ adorable. _ And it was just like all the times back in Seoul, of Jaehwan stepping out of his bedroom with the same messy hair and gestures.

Jaehwan saw him. “Oh, you’re my protector, right?”

“Yes.” Minhyun found it hard to talk like a normal person. “I, uh— I wanted to apologize for yesterday. You looked like someone I knew and I mistook you for him.”

“Oh.” Jaehwan let out a small laugh. “That’s fine. I guess I look like quite a lot of people.”

Minhyun let himself smile. “Not really.”

“Well,” Jaehwan said, extending a hand. “Let’s do introductions one more time, shall we? I’m Kim Jaehwan and I’ll be staying here for a bit. Until things are safer.”

“Hwang Minhyun.” When their hands touched, it felt like electricity travelled between them. Minhyun felt his heart pound. “I’ll be your protector while you stay here.”

“Nice to meet you, Minhyun. I believe we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

Maybe Minhyun shouldn’t have been so glad. But he nodded. “I believe you’re right.”

  
  
  
  


**_DAY ? + 2_ **

_ Does this mean that there are two Jaehwans in this universe? My Jaehwan and this universe’s Jaehwan? But my Jaehwan has to be somewhere in this universe too. That’s why the old man sent me here… right?  _

_ I know I should be leaving as soon as I can. But I feel that there is something waiting for me in this kingdom. I don’t know what. But I’ll keep searching for a bit. If I really can’t find anything, then I’ll leave the kingdom and look for him. _

_ I do feel bad that I’ll be leaving this Jaehwan behind. But it’s not like he’d miss me. We’ve only just met. And I’m sure there are a ton of guards ready to take my place. _

  
  


**_DAY ? + 3_ **

_ It’s insane how this Jaehwan acts exactly like my Jaehwan. Every little movement he does reminds me of him. But I guess that’s how universes work. The person’s traits remain the same, but their memories and lives don’t. _

_ I wonder… is there another Hwang Minhyun out there? _

  
  


**_DAY ? + 6_ **

_ This universe’s Jaehwan likes to sing too. We were in the castle’s garden and he started to sing. I guess in any universe, Jaehwan would love music and singing. _

  
  


  
  
  


All the days he spent with Jaehwan, Minhyun tried to ignore the inevitable feeling that grew in his chest.

_ He was falling. _

This Jaehwan that stood in front of him was exactly like  _ his  _ Jaehwan. From the way he spoke, his little gestures, and even the habits that Minhyun had noticed. Everything just screamed Kim Jaehwan—  _ his  _ Kim Jaehwan.

But he reminded himself over and over that his Jaehwan was somewhere out there, and he would find him. 

The Jaehwan of this universe was not his Jaehwan.

He ignored how his heart beat fast when  _ this _ Jaehwan stood close to him, tried not to smile too widely when  _ this _ Jaehwan laughed. He couldn’t fall for him. Even as they became closer and closer, he  _ couldn’t  _ let himself fall for him.

They spend a lot of time together, exploring the castle, climbing onto its highest floors and looking at the kingdom below. Jaehwan would sing, his voice soft and beautiful. He sang of fairy tales and perilous journeys— a lot different from the songs that Kim Jaehwan sang on that fateful day in Hongdae.

Sometimes Jaehwan would convince Minhyun to take him into the kingdom. It was both reckless and risky, but Minhyun found himself unable to refuse the other’s puppy eyes. They would then explore the streets, going into little shops and buying enough food to last the night. 

Jaehwan would skip back to his room like a little kid, and after he bid Minhyun goodnight, the older man would find himself looking forward to the next day.

Minhyun had always wanted to see him again and felt wrong almost immediately. He would head back to his own room, tossing and turning in bed.

He really needed to get out of there. Away from  _ this  _ Jaehwan. He had to find  _ his. _

  
  


  
  
  


**_DAY ? + 9_ **

_ I know that I really need to leave soon. But why do my legs feel heavy whenever I get closer to the kingdom’s gates? _

_ Why does my heart feel heavy at the thought of leaving this place? _

  
  


**_DAY ? + 10_ **

_ Jaehwan asked if we could take a stroll through the kingdom again tomorrow. He has the permission to go, so I guess tomorrow’s another day in the kingdom… _

  
  


  
  
  


”Are you hungry?” Jaehwan asked. “Minhyun?”

Minhyun’s mind had been wandering. “Oh.” He realized that Jaehwan was glancing at him as they walked down the brick roads. “Not really. Are you?”

“Starving.”

“Then let’s find some food.”

Jaehwan liked to explore. They had roamed through crowded vast roads to empty, smaller roads.

Then they entered a section of the kingdom that Minhyun had not noticed before. It seemed darker and less friendly and Minhyun felt that they should turn the other way, to a much safer-looking street.

But something had caught his eye.

It was just what appeared to be a regular storefront. Its windows were hazy, only giving a vague glimpse of what was inside. The walls were made of unpainted bricks, the door looked old and creaky.

But the “welcome” sign was something else. Painted on the sign were the drawings of fluorescent crystals. Just like the ones that Minhyun carried with him at all times. Just like the ones that were shoved into his hands back at Seoul.

“Oh, I see a bakery there,” Jaehwan said, tugging on his arm and pointing in another direction.

“Can we look at that store first?” Minhyun pointed at the mysterious building with its mysterious welcome sign. “I think it’s an antique store.”

“I’m really hungry though,” Jaehwan mumbled, a slight pout on his face that made Minhyun’s heart pound a little. “Oh! You just go in, Minhyun. I’ll buy some bread at the bakery myself.”

Minhyun knew that he should never let Jaehwan out of his sight. The queen could have his head if she knew that he let Jaehwan go somewhere alone. But he felt a suffocating sense of urgency, so he nodded.

He watched Jaehwan disappear into the small bakery before he faced the suspicious building in front of him. 

_ Here goes nothing,  _ he thought, stepping forward and pushing the door open. The sound of bells clanged above his head.

It really did seem like an antique store of some sorts. There was an assortment of trinkets and items scattered all over dozens of tables around the room. The place was badly lit, so he couldn’t see much. 

But in the middle of all those trinkets, seated at a table, was the old man. He looked exactly like he did in Seoul, but wearing what appeared to be a black robe around his shoulders.

Instinct told Minhyun to rush forward and grab the old man by the shoulders, shaking him and demanding answers.

Somehow, he managed to hold himself back.

“You,” Minhyun simply said. 

The old man was silent, and for a horrifying second Minhyun wondered if this was another version of the old man, and not his neighbour. He started to wonder how he would apologize.

But the other person spoke.

“Did you find the boy?” 

Minhyun almost let out a gasp. It  _ was _ the same old man. The one that had sent him here.

“You—”

“Did you?”

“You didn’t send me to the wrong universe, right?” Minhyun said, a slight desperation to his voice. “The Jaehwan with me now… He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know me at all. He’s the Jaehwan of this universe. But my Jaehwan… he’s somewhere in this universe too, right?”

“He is out there.”

“Who’s out there? My Jaehwan? Somewhere in this universe?”

“Reunite with him.”

“How?”

But the old man just smiled. He then stood up, turned his back on Minhyun, and disappeared behind a door that must have lead to another room.

“Hey— Wait!” Minhyun rushed forward, jumping over the desk and flinging the door open.

It was a storage room, full of more trinkets. And right in the middle was the contraption. The same one that he had seen in the old man’s room in Seoul.

The old man was nowhere to be seen.

He faintly heard Jaehwan calling after his name. Suddenly afraid that something bad happened to him, Minhyun ran out of the store.

Jaehwan was waiting for him on the street, a casket full of bread in his hands. A grin was on his face. “Let’s head back to the castle.”

  
  


**_DAY ? + 11_ **

_ I met the old man. The contraption was there— the machine. That’s my way back home to my universe. To the present. _

_ He wouldn’t answer me when I asked him about my Jaehwan. He always spoke in riddles. He never answered with any explanation.  _

_ But back in Seoul, he had given me three crystals. One was used to send me here. So the remaining crystals… should be for two people, right? One for me. One for Jaehwan. Two crystals to bring us back home. So my Jaehwan has to be somewhere in this universe. I’ll find him. I know I will. _

  
  


  
  
  


It was another night after dinner. The two of them walked down the vast hallways, passing by the portraits and vases of flowers.

Jaehwan then turned to him, the brightest smile on his face. “Want to go outside for some fresh air?”

Minhyun could feel himself falling more and more, and the guilt came just as quickly. 

_ This isn’t your Jaehwan,  _ he kept telling himself.  _ He isn’t yours. _

“Sure,” Minhyun answered. Jaehwan reached out and took his hand, pulling him along when he began to run.

They were like two kids excitedly running out to play in the snow during winter afternoons. It reminded Minhyun of too many things— like how Jaehwan would do the same when they were on dates at the amusement park, or when they were late to a movie. With his long legs, he easily matched Jaehwan’s pace. He tried to ignore how his heart was pounding hard against his chest. Everything felt so right, but so wrong at the same time. 

The air was chilly but not too cold outside. It was the garden area of the castle, basked underneath the moonlight. Flowers were everywhere, colorful and slightly swaying in the wind, all planted neatly in their respective areas. There was a little pathway in the shape of a circle that went around a small pond in the garden’s middle. Placed right in the center of the pond was a gazebo— it was painted white with an elegant roof, a small wooden carving of a bird perched at the top of it. 

A small stone bridge connected the gazebo and the rest of the garden.

Jaehwan continued to run till they reached the bridge. He then took in a deep breath, letting it out with a satisfied sigh. “It’s great here.”

Minhyun wanted to squeeze Jaehwan’s hand. But instead, he let go, not wanting to feel guiltier than he already was. The younger man looked unfazed as he spoke again.

“One day, I want to go out there. To see the world.”

Just staring at him, Minhyun listened to his every word.

“Staying all cooped up in a castle doesn’t do me much good,” Jaehwan continued. He was staring at the moon and stars’ reflection in the pond, watching as the water rippled. “We should go outside somewhere tomorrow.”

“It’s not safe,” Minhyun simply answered. “It is recommended for you to stay in the safety of the kingdom.”

Jaehwan let out a tiny huff. “We don’t need to go far. Maybe just a little ways ahead. Somewhere a little past the gates. To a farm, maybe. Or the sea. I’d like to go to the sea.”

_ Back home, his Jaehwan also liked to go to the sea. _

Minhyun nodded, heart giving a slight painful squeeze. “Sounds lovely.”

“We could see the seagulls and collect little shells. We wouldn’t be able to go in the water though, because of your allergies.”

“You’re right,” Minhyun answered.

He then paused. His heart skipped a beat.

_ Because of your allergies. _

Minhyun felt the air leave his lungs. He was suddenly out of breath. Eyes widening ever so slightly, he felt his hands begin to shake as he stared at Jaehwan’s side profile. He didn’t let his eyes wander even for a little bit.

“My allergies,” he then spoke softly.

“Yes,” Jaehwan answered, still staring at the water.

The blood was roaring in Minhyun’s ears. He was afraid his voice would fail him. But he forced his mouth to work, for his voice to come out.

“I don’t think I ever told you about my allergies, Jaehwan.”

Dead silence. Jaehwan had frozen up immediately. 

“Oh,” the younger man then said, as if regaining his composure. “You didn’t, but the people in the castle told me about it.”

Minhyun shook his head. “I never told anyone here. Not a single soul.”

It looked like Jaehwan was thinking hard, trying to come up with something. 

“Jaehwan,” Minhyun said, voice firm but desperate. “It’s you, isn’t it?”

Silence.

“The Jaehwan that lived in Seoul. The Jaehwan that I met in Hongdae and fell in love with. The Jaehwan that knows everything about me, including my little habits and my allergies.” Minhyun’s throat was closing up now. “ _ My _ Jaehwan. It’s you, right?”

The wind blew. The moonlight continued to shine below. And Jaehwan finally turned to him, a small smile on his face and tears beginning to gather in the corners of his eyes.

“Hi, Minhyun-hyung.”

A sob escaped Minhyun. Without a word, he rushed forward, pulling Jaehwan into a tight embrace. 

_ This was Jaehwan. His Kim Jaehwan. Right here with him. _

This time, Jaehwan hugged him back, arms trembling. Minhyun felt Jaehwan’s shoulders shaking as the younger man cried, face buried in his shoulder.

It seemed as if Jaehwan would have collapsed there on the spot, legs slightly giving out. But Minhyun held tightly onto him, not letting him fall.

He would never let Jaehwan fall.

It took a while. But the tears had fallen. The pain of the time they spent separated seemed to heal little by little as they held each other close. Minhyun slowly pulled back, gently cupping Jaehwan’s tear-stained face in his hands. 

“I missed you so much,” he said. “So much.”

“Me too, hyung.”

“Why did you leave? Why did you pretend to not know me? Why…”

There were too many questions that Minhyun wanted to ask. Endless questions. But he found the words stuck in his throat again.

Jaehwan was silent, as if fighting a war within himself. 

“Please, Jaehwan. Please answer me.”

“Hyung.”

“Yes?”

Their eyes locked, Jaehwan spoke, his voice quiet. 

“When you first woke up here, did you feel anything odd?”

Minhyun let out a small laugh. “Besides getting thrown back in time? Or to another universe? Seriously, what is this place?”

Jaehwan waited.

“Many things were odd,” Minhyun answered. “I fought with a sword for the first time and won, as if I had been sword-fighting all my life. When I walked through the kingdom, it all felt so familiar. As if I’ve been here before. I don’t understand.”

“You didn’t just go back in time, hyung.” 

“What…?”

“All your feelings of déjà vu is because some of what’s happened… has already happened before.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You didn’t just travel through time.”

Jaehwan then took a few steps back, not breaking their eye contact. Minhyun’s hands fell to his sides.

“Hyung, you also travelled to a different lifetime.”

“What…”

“We spent a lifetime together here, hyung. In the past like this. The reason why you could fight is because… you’ve always wanted to be a knight in your previous life. You’ve always practiced. You’ve always trained. The reason why the streets seem familiar is because you’ve been here before. But things are going a bit differently. For example, we weren’t supposed to meet like  _ this. _ This didn’t happen before.”

The thoughts in Minhyun’s head were colliding, trying to make sense of things. Jaehwan gave him a small, sad smile before walking towards the pond. 

Minhyun watched Jaehwan cross the small stone bridge, crossing the pond and stepping foot in the gazebo. Jaehwan then turned back to look at him, the same smile still on his face.

“Our past life here… You don’t remember any of it, hyung. But I do. I remember it all.”

Suddenly, Minhyun was reminded of the odd dreams that he had back in Seoul. The weird traces and fragments that he would never remember when he woke up. But he remembered the raw, aching pain that he had felt.

Were those dreams traces of this lifetime that he had forgotten?

“What happened?”

He had finally found his voice. It sounded weak and faint.

“We were the best of friends, really.” There was fondness in Jaehwan’s eyes. A nostalgic look. “We knew each other since we were little. Our families were close. Life was good. We came from aristocrat families, after all. We grew up together. From little boys to adults.”

There was a pause, as if Jaehwan was giving Minhyun time to process it all. His smile then grew, turning into a fond one that matched his gaze.

“One day you told me you loved me,” Jaehwan continued. “And I loved you back.”

Minhyun felt breathless. 

“We were happy for a bit. Hyung, we were so happy together.”

Minhyun wished he could remember. But not even the faintest of memories appeared in his head. But he could feel it— he could feel the warmth of memories that he could not recall. Maybe… just vaguely… he could remember soft touches from soft hands. From a long, long time ago.

The smile was disappearing from Jaehwan’s face. Something akin to guilt flashed in his eyes. “But my family did terrible things. Terrible, terrible things.”

It felt like Minhyun’s heart had been stabbed with an invisible dagger. “What…”

“And in the end we couldn’t be together anymore,” Jaehwan continued. “All the way until we died.” 

A haunting silence. Minhyun took a step forward but stopped. His body suddenly felt so heavy.

“But we were born again, far off into the future. We met again in Seoul.” A light yet pained laugh escaped through Jaehwan’s lips. “Out of all odds, out of all the possibilities, we met again.”

“Jaehwan.”

“I remembered everything and wanted to run. This lifetime continued to haunt me. I couldn’t bear to show my face to you. I was so ashamed. But it turned out that you remembered nothing of this lifetime. So I let myself be selfish. I let myself be with you. I thought it would be okay. But I was wrong. The guilt continued to haunt me. And it was obvious that I’d have to pay for my sins sooner or later. So I decided to go back to this lifetime.”

“Jaehwan.”

This time, Jaehwan waited.

Minhyun didn’t know what to say. A million things were in his mind, but he couldn’t even form one of them into words. But he managed, somehow. 

“Jaehwan, I love you.”

And he wouldn’t stop.

“I loved you back then. I can’t remember any of it, but I can feel it. I loved you then… and I love you now. And I’ll always love you, Jaehwan.” 

Underneath the moonlight, tears were beginning to glisten in Jaehwan’s eyes again. 

“Please come home with me.” Minhyun pulled on a warm, fragile smile. “The old man— my neighbour, the one who sent me here— he gave me three crystals. One was used to send me here but I have two more left. Just enough for the both of us. I don’t understand how this whole past life and time travel thing works, but… I met the old man here. In this lifetime too. He’ll know how to send us back. Please. It doesn’t matter what happened or what you’ve done in your past life, just please… Come home with me.”

But even as he said his pleading words, he knew that it was hopeless. Jaehwan was looking at him with the saddest face, the pain evident in the younger man’s features.

Framed by the gazebo and underneath the crescent moon and its light, Jaehwan looked like a being from another world. In a way, perhaps that was true. As if… if Minhyun were to run to him and touch him, he would disappear into thin air.

“I can’t, hyung.”

“Why not?” Minhyun refused to believe his own ears.

Jaehwan didn’t answer. Minhyun tried other questions.

“Why did you come here? Back to this lifetime?”

“Time is interesting, isn’t it?” Jaehwan said. “Time has become more than time. It became a place that can be visited with a machine. I guess I was trying to change the events of this time. Tried to stop my family. But no. It seems that some events are just set in stone and can’t be changed. The more I try, the more certain I am that I just have no idea how time works. But I’ll keep trying. I’ll keep on trying and trying. I didn’t think we’d meet here, but we did.”

Minhyun gave him a shaky smile. “It’s fate.”

Jaehwan didn’t smile back. “And it seems that we’re fated to be separated again too.”

It felt like another stab in the heart. “You don’t know that.”

“I do, hyung. There’s talk going on in the higher-ups. I won’t be under the queen’s protection for much longer. Once she finds out that my family is conspiring against her, she’ll want to kill me. Might even assign you to kill me.”

“I would never.”

“I can’t stay with you. We can’t stay together.”

“We can work it out. I know we can.”

Minhyun willed his legs to move, and soon he was walking towards Jaehwan. Across the bridge. He kept going until he stood in front of him.

Jaehwan’s gaze was still on him. He was crying again.

“All of this,” the younger man then said, “you can just forget about it. You can just go home and continue living life. This… all of this… is none of your concern.”

“How can it be none of my concern, Jaehwan? I’m your—”

Minhyun found himself unable to finish the sentence. What was he? What were  _ they?  _

Boyfriends?  _ Ex _ -boyfriends? Did Jaehwan technically end their relationship when he left? 

Minhyun let out a sigh.

“I’m your protector, Jaehwan. I was assigned to protect you. And the best way to keep you safe is if we go home together—”

His words were cut off as Jaehwan grabbed him roughly by the collar and kissed him.

It was sudden and not at all gentle, but it was familiar. It felt like home. It felt like a home that he had missed for far too long, and he knew that he never wanted to leave it ever again.

Minhyun kissed him back, snaking an arm around the other man’s waist and tugging him closer. Soon Jaehwan was gasping for breath, pulling away.

Without a word, Jaehwan took his hand and began running again. Minhyun followed, knowing very well what they were going to do and what Jaehwan was  _ trying to do _ .

Jaehwan was trying to distract him. Trying to avoid the conversation that was supposed to be unavoidable— that they needed to return back to their proper time.

But Minhyun had missed Jaehwan more than anything. He missed his touches, his smiles, his everything. And if Jaehwan needed this, then Minhyun would give it all to him.

They made it to Jaehwan’s room quickly. It didn’t take long to go back into their old, comfortable habits. Jaehwan fell onto the bed with a gentle thud, pulling Minhyun on top of him. Their breaths mingling as they kissed again, Minhyun knew that he would never ever forget this. No matter what happened next.

  
  
  


The night grew deeper as they lay next to each other. Minhyun had pulled the blanket over the both of them, not wanting the cold air to get to Jaehwan.

Jaehwan nuzzled against the crook of Minhyun’s neck, tired but letting out a sigh.

“I was wondering something.”

“What is it, hyung?”

Minhyun was stroking Jaehwan’s hair, an arm around him. “Everyone back at home doesn’t remember you,” he said, treading carefully on his words. “Why?”

“I’m just… simply no longer of that time anymore. My existence faded from there. I’ve been in this lifetime for too long.”

“How does it work?”

“Time is fickle,” Jaehwan mumbled. “It works so oddly and mysteriously. Unpredictably. It just simple makes no sense sometimes.”

Minhyun gave a small hum in response. He then asked, “How come only I remember you?”

“Perhaps we’re connected by something called the red string of fate.”

“Sounds poetic.”

Jaehwan let out a chuckle. “It does, doesn’t it?”

“And you plan on changing history by changing events in this time?”

“If that’s how time works, then yes.”

“What do you mean ‘if’?”

“Like I said, time works mysteriously. Even I don’t know if it’ll rewrite history, or simply branch off to a parallel world. Or if it’ll even change anything at all.”

“Like in sci-fi movies,” Minhyun muttered. “Like in the movies we’d watch on rainy days. Back on my couch in that cozy little living room.”

He could feel Jaehwan smile, the other man’s lips curling against his neck. 

“Yeah. Something like that, hyung.”

“Another question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Are our bodies still in the present lifetime? I mean, back in Seoul?”

Jaehwan hesitated to answer that one. “Your body is back in Seoul. I’m sure the old man is looking after you there. Making sure you’re sustained. Time passes by differently there and here though. So even though weeks have passed here, it doesn’t mean weeks passed there.”

“So how long were  _ you  _ here, Jaehwan? Where are you back in Seoul? Is your body even in Seoul? Did you also go to the old man?”

Jaehwan didn’t answer. Minhyun sighed, trying another question.

“How does the machine even work, anyways?”

“The old man’s machine… it transfers your consciousness to your body in another lifetime. It’s weird as fuck. But right now, your body in Seoul is just an empty shell.”

“That’s disturbing.”

“It is.”

“I woke up on the outskirts of this kingdom.”

“You liked to travel a lot in your past life, hyung. That’s probably why.”

“Hmm.”

“And you need to return back to your time. The longer you stay here, the longer your existence will fade there.”

“Everyone back at home will forget about me too?”

“Eventually, yes. Which is why you need to go back as soon as you can.”

Minhyun took in a deep breath. It was so much to take in. 

“And you?” he asked. “What will you do, Jaehwan?”

“I have to do what I have to do,” Jaehwan answered simply. Before Minhyun could ask another question, he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. “But right now, I’m gonna go get a drink.”

“I’ll have one too, please.”

Jaehwan glanced at him, a smile appearing on his face. “Aren’t you being too eager to drink?”

“It’ll help ease my mind. Feels like it’s gonna explode from all that’s happening.”

With a laugh, Jaehwan climbed to his feet and walked to one end of the room. “Alright, alright.”

Minhyun closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them again. Jaehwan would go to sleep, but Minhyun would keep awake and make sure that he wouldn’t wake up to an empty bed. He wasn’t going to let Jaehwan leave him again. Not like last time. And especially not now, with all of the dangers of time travel and whatever “sin” Jaehwan was trying so hard to erase.

“Here you go, hyung.”

Gratefully taking the glass from Jaehwan, he quickly downed the whole thing in one go. Jaehwan’s eyes went wide, obviously surprised.

“Slow down, hyung.”

Minhyun set the empty glass on the bedside table. “I feel much better now.”

Jaehwan let out a chuckle as he took a couple sips and got back into bed. He closed his eyes as Minhyun wrapped an arm around him again.

“Goodnight, hyung.”

“Goodnight, Jaehwan.”

  
  


It took Minhyun too long to realize that Jaehwan had put something in his drink. Soon the world darkened around him. His eyes closed against his will.

He was in darkness yet again.

  
  


He woke up to an empty bed and a note right next to his empty cup.

  
  


_ “Minhyun-hyung, thank you for last night. And for everything. _

_ Please don’t look for me again. Please return to Seoul before it’s too late. _

_ I’m sorry.” _


	4. The answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author: [jihwannaone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hongpikachu/pseuds/jihwannaone) (since she doesn't allow others to add her as co-creator, I'm gonna drop her account link here if any of you want to visit her other works)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the writer:  
> I'm sorry if this chapter seemed so short and fast-paced despite the delay I had in posting this.  
> Thank you for being patient and keeping your interest with us ^^

“Jaehwan!” 

Minhyun exclaimed while slamming the letter on the hard surface. He didn’t waste time to dash outside the door, letter still in his hands, frantically trying to find where Jaehwan has run off to. 

_ I went back here to get you back, Jaehwan. I couldn’t afford to lose you, not again. _

It felt surreal to be running around an unfamiliar land without even having to think twice about which direction to turn to and which places to avoid. Minhyun knows for a fact that he has been roaming around these grounds for centuries in the past, and yet the feeling of detached familiarity, if there is even such, still feels quite strange to him.

The surge of muscle memory takes him to a garden situated at the far southwest region of the castle, a place where only the monarchs’ personal bodyguards were only allowed to enter. And although Minhyun was eligible for entry, he still opted to hide behind a thick bush where the conversation was within earshot.

“... The poison takes effect in ten hours. Since he slept for eight he only has two hours, as with the other guards. Not much can be done at this point.”

“Good job, my son. You’ve taken care of things without our help. Surely, you’re on the way to becoming a great ruler, Jaehwan.”

“Thank you mother, for trusting such a task to me.”

“Now all that’s left is the queen... “

_ Jaehwan! _

Minhyun can recognize that distinct voice anywhere. Tears welled up in his eyes, thinking about Jaehwan has intended to kill him in this lifetime. So many questions were buzzing in his head, so much emotions that he’s trying to sort out.

His head started to hurt and the corners of his vision were starting to blur. Finally, he becomes aware of the slow yet seething pain on his stomach, and that’s when he realizes that he doesn’t have much time. 

“The queen…”

Those were the words that came out of his mouth before he ran off back to the main castle grounds. His speed was slower than usual, and his balance is thrown off due to the nausea, but his gut drives him to run faster; to reach the queen and bring Jaehwan back before it’s too late. 

“Your highness!” Minhyun exclaims as loud as he could when he reaches the castle grounds. The guards were slumped on the walls, sitting down while clutching their own stomachs. Unsynchronized wailing and moaning in pain were evident, and the other servants were frantic in calling a medical team. 

“Minhyun… Alert the queen... “ 

One of the guards, years older than Minhyun, called out with a croaky and hoarse voice. It’s times like this when he thinks he’s lucky to not have remembered anything in this lifetime. If he’s seen bloodshed and carries that image with him until the very end, he might not be able to withstand the immense amount of trauma and guilt that would haunt him over centuries and millennia.

_ Jaehwan, you’ve suffered this much, and yet I don't know… I’m sorry… _

He doesn’t notice the tears that blurred his vision as he takes quick wobbly steps towards the queen’s quarters. The world seemed to shrink around him and the voices all over were reduced to faint muffling. 

A few tiles more and he would have made it, but his body gave in faster than he thought it would, and he ended up stumbling and collapsing. However, he noticed that a pair of arms caught him, and he was laid properly on the cold floor. 

“The queen… Please…”

He croaked in desperation as the poison begins to spread through his respiratory system. Breathing became hard and cold sweat starts to break on his forehead and palms.

Hallucinations must be a common symptom for poison, he thought, as the old man who owned the contraption comes into view. The elder’s gaze was troubled and grim. Minhyun parts his lips to try and speak but all he could do was gasp for air. 

There was a pressure on his pocket and his fingers were curled, making him hold onto something cold and hard in his palm. 

_ Jaehwan… I’m sorry… I’ll come back for you. _

And the world became dark.

  
  


***

“Jaehwan!”

The afterlife, or so it seemed, looked like the apartment he was last in back in modern day Seoul. He woke with cold sweat, catching the air that seemed to leave his lungs. This time the room was dark, and he spent so long in the past that he took a minute or two to recognize how the present day looked and felt like.

“So you’re finally awake.”

Minhyun jumped on his spot, almost fully yanking the contraption strapped on his head, wires connecting to the large machine at the back. On the far right was the old man, fixing up a warm cup of tea and walking slowly towards him with a tray in his hands.

Whatever feelings of nausea he had accumulated on the course of what seemed like the past few hours began to alleviate and Minhyun now feels like he just ran five marathons in a day. His legs were sore and arms felt like he was lifting heavy boxes the entire day. 

“What… happened?” 

“History has a tendency to repeat itself, no?” 

“Excuse me?”

“You still have one more stone. The thread can be mended.”

_ Stone…  _

Minhyun looks at his hand and sees the stone now become dull in color before dissolving into tiny grains on his palm. Everything that has happened in the kingdom flashed in his mind, along with it a bad headache. 

“So… I’m not dead?”

The old man just chuckled while setting the cup of tea beside MInhyun before disappearing off into the kitchen. There was silence except for the rustling of the machine. He takes off the headpiece and examines it with utmost scrutiny, as if memorizing the creases and dents and how the wires intertwined. 

A notification sound broke his train of thought and he suddenly remembers the smartphone inside his pocket. He almost forgot that such contraptions exist in the modern world, so the fact that he gets to touch the gadget gave him a sense of relief.

It seems like two weeks had passed, which equals to a month in his journey of time traveling. He was bombarded with calls from his friends, various voicemails and messages which would take him a whole day or two to catch up on. 

But his heart sank when he noticed that none of them were from Jaehwan, and that the texts he and Jaehwan had shared became nonexistent. He chucks the phone back in his pocket and it clanks with something small and hard.

Minhyun fishes out a stone from his pocket, shaped like the one he was holding earlier, but this one sparkled with an amber shade. At first glance it could look like a gemstone or a colored diamond. 

“The first one took me to the kingdom, and the other brought me here… Does this mean…?”

He found the strength to stand up after a few sips of tea and roamed around the room. Behind the contraption was a tall shelf of books of all sorts, and he heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe the answers he sought were here all along.

Without much time to waste, he scanned through the shelves and picked out a few random books with titles that indicated anything about the past. To his surprise, a cut-out photograph fell from one of the books. It was a photograph of an old painting that seemed familiar to him, and he regrets in himself to not have taken much interest in his own history class.

In the painting was the queen, a male he has not seen, and three children. The child on the right side had a slightly different appearance from the other two kids in the picture. It felt like he was staring at himself, then his eyes caught a glimpse of the caption below.

**_A portrait of Queen Hwang Mihwa and King Kim Kihun with their sons. Far right is Hwang Minhun, exiled later by the king for not being blood-related._ **

He placed the cutout aside and skimmed through the books he gathered, trying to find any trace of his past self. He’s seen the queen and king and the sons multiple times, the king dying a century before the queen and her sons died in a civil war. All this he read but he never knew that he has been part of this history, nor has he recalled the mention of the queen’s third son. 

_ Maybe.. The thousand years of sin had something to do with… _

“Sometimes we need to look close in order to learn that we need to look further to see the bigger picture.” 

The book falls out of Minhyun’s hand when the old man spoke, startling him for a quick second. The old man had a knowing look on his face, wrinkles and experience and all. 

“Am I allowed to go back? I only have one stone and I don’t think this will take me back to the past… To Jaehwan…” 

“When you get there, you will know.” 

There was a part of Minhyun that screams about how absurd he is to put his own life in danger. He can always choose to stay in a pub and just drink his heart out until he forgets Jaehwan like everyone else. And yet he’s here, uncovering the past that he shouldn’t be worried about anymore, willing to risk everything for Jaehwan. 

Another glance at the stone that he picked up and he knows that this last shot is all or nothing. Unlike the past, he knows that the future is something he couldn’t ever be prepared for. He doesn’t know how far he will be taken to, or what life form he would be facing. 

But if it meant risking everything to get Jaehwan back, he’s willing to do it.

Whirring noises fill the room and there was a rumble. He puts the helmet on and holds onto the stone that glowed brightly. He catches a glimpse of the old man, who had an expression he couldn’t read, and then the world was all dark once again.

  
  


***

  
  


Minhyun wakes up on the exact same room, except this time there was no trace of the old man and the paint looks fresher on the walls. There was anxiety all over him as he steps in unfamiliar territory. It was like traveling to a foreign country, except going forward in time is more terrifying.

A small part of his anxiety eased when he glanced out the window and noticed that, apart from the taller buildings, everything else seemed pretty normal. No flying cars as people would expect it, but there were indeed lesser trees around. 

The time machine was nowhere to be found while the bookshelf behind the contraption has disappeared and is now a bare wall of concrete. Whatever hope he’s had for finding more answers in this lifetime made his heart sink. 

“Ah, the internet!” 

He takes the smartphone out of his pocket and the first thing he does is take a glance at the date and time he is in. 

**_9:43AM, 25 May 3019_ **

Minhyun takes shaky steps towards the door, noticing that the doorknob doesn’t exist and what looked like a hologram of a numerical keypad was on the door. It seems that a password was needed to open the door but the problem was that he doesn’t know whose room it was and what happens if the wrong password is entered.

He takes a glance around for more clues but to no luck, the room was empty save for a few chairs that seem to be untouched for a long time. 

_ Maybe whoever lived here has died? _

A chill runs through his spine just thinking about intruding in a dead man’s home, so he tries to shake the thought away and focuses back on the keypad. 

“If I were the owner…” He murmured to himself. 

_ 0 _

Pressing the first button was always the scariest. He didn’t know what to make of it when the number glowed bright green, but it was always a universal indicator for ‘go’, so he pressed the next numbers without much thought.

_ 5… 2… 7… _

May 27. Jaehwan’s birthday. 

All four numbers glowed green and the door took a short moment before sliding to the side. Indeed the future looks normal but technology has advanced in its own way. For the first time in what seemed like a long while, he managed a smile. 

He manages to step out and notices the room numbers displayed on top of the doors. It was the apartment complex where he was living in, except with flat doors and glowing room numbers on top. The familiar number flashes on top of the door where he just got out of and a chuckle now leaves his lips. 

Even in this lifetime, he only has his heart set for Jaehwan; and that thought gives him a sense of hope.

A crashing sound from the room next to his startled him. Without any second thought he knocks on the door and was shortly greeted by a creaking sound as it opened on its own. 

The contraption was sitting on the exact spot where he had seen it before, except this time it looks cleaner, more brand new than the dull-looking one he’s used in present time. 

“Ah, young lad, I have been expecting you.” 

A familiar voice causes MInhyun to jump in surprise, and when he looks back it was the old man, except with less wrinkles and grey hair on his face. 

“I guess this machine really did work, seeing as you’re from the past.”

“Who are you? What’s going on?”

“It takes a thousand more years to repent for a sin worth a thousand years. And thousands more it will continue if left unatoned for.” 

At this point the man picks up the amber-colored stone, the one that took Minhyun to the future. It was tossed into a bin and a green flame rose and died quickly. 

Stunned, Minhyun stood in place, practically frozen from shock at what the man did that he couldn’t do anything when the man handed him two stones that looked like a sapphire and emerald. 

“I’m sure you know what these are for. Go and retrieve the boy.” 

“Jaehwan… Is he… Is he alive here?”

“A future cannot exist when time stops in the past.”

  
  


The blue stone was held tight in Minhyun’s palm while he keeps the emerald in his pocket. And before anyone could utter anything, the old man was now staring at the space where Minhyun used to stand.

“Mihwa, thank you for taking care of him when I couldn’t.”


	5. The end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Major Character Death
> 
> Note from the author: I hope I give justice to how great the authors were with their own chapters. This is the end. Please enjoy.

Minhyun woke up with a kiss on his shoulders. He winced at the sudden sensation, mind still hazy and doubtful of the legitimacy of his senses. Pain coursed through his whole body, his muscles are sore and it is almost impossible for him to move without cowering. Soft touches and a warm breath helped him prop up while the voice of the person aiding him calmed his weary heart.

“I’m sorry to have woken you up. I… I had a nightmare.” Jaehwan apologized.

Minhyun didn’t know where he was but he knew he was home. He pulled Jaehwan closer, in his arms and his embrace. His head hurt from the sudden jolt into consciousness but it’s okay, if that means he gets to appease Jaehwan.

Jaehwan kissed him and unlike any of their kisses before, this one was intentionally different. It was like Jaehwan was telling him something he cannot communicate through words, so with just the mere expectation that Minhyun would hopefully understand, he kissed and kissed and kissed him. Like it was a goodbye yet it also is a hello. A goodbye to the days they’ve once held dear and a hello to an uncertain tomorrow that was still _theirs_. Minhyun still didn’t understand—the motive, the intent, and yet he kissed and kissed and kissed because he never knew when he would get the chance again.

The situation was weird and surreal and Minhyun was almost convinced that he was only in a dream—probably a defense mechanism by his mind, pulling him back to the days where he woke up and Jaehwan was just within reach. Sometimes in his apartment, sometimes in Jaehwan’s.

It was a dream of being back to how they were before, how perfect everything was. Through busy schedules, through the difference of environment, they made it.

He remembered one particular morning, when he slept over at Jaehwan’s place. He woke up with sunrays warming up his face and he was welcomed by Jaehwan sitting at the edge of the bed, busily scrolling through his phone, donned with nothing but Minhyun’s oversized shirt. He looked at him when he noticed that Minhyun was already awake. Jaehwan stood up and let go of his phone to climb up and snuggle with Minhyun. The older felt his heart beat faster at the sight—at how his boyfriend could look so innocent and sinfully attractive at the same time. He loved him so much.

Those were treasured times.

Right now he was just thankful to have the chance to hold him again. Jaehwan was in his arms, breath rhythmic and quiet. Minhyun wasn’t a religious person, but he prayed to god that if this was a dream, may he let him have the moment longer.

Soon after, Minhyun noticed that the sun was starting to rise. It began to illuminate the room around him and as if he was betrayed by his own wishes, he found himself quite disappointed to be in the past and not in any apartment in present-time Seoul.

Minhyun noticed he was in an unfamiliar place, a room he hasn’t been in before, and it surely was not in the present time. The pale concrete, dark red linen, and fancy undergarments on the floor were very much valid indicators and clue as to where he was now. He remembered Jaehwan telling him that he continuously tried to repeat several versions of this lifetime to try and calm his conscience and he was starting to believe that maybe he was in one of the versions of this specific lifetime.

Jaehwan started to talk softly, warm and satisfied with his cheek on the crook of Minhyun’s neck. “Last night, hyung, I… You don’t know how long I’ve waited for that.” He sighed. “You were exiled from the other kingdom and by then I could only pray that you would make it here alive. I wasn’t even planning on confessing to you. But I saw you, through the heavy red curtains, alone on the balcony. The moon was full and it illuminated your eyes in a way that I have never seen before and I guess I—”

Jaehwan paused, and Minhyun could feel, could hear how he smiled. “I fell in love all over again. I just had to say it. And I was more than glad you said it back.”

Minhyun assumed he was in the same timeline as the one he read from the history book in the old man’s apartment in Minhyun’s original timeframe. He took this information in with little effort. Though his head was still clouded from the disorientation of the time change, the urgency pushed him to be reactive; yet, the sudden revelation of their apparent confession the night before made him daydream of how it went.

Was it as magical as it was when they confessed to each other after one of Jaehwan’s regular gigs in Hongdae? Minhyun remembered a time when both of them were suddenly quiet while walking. Both of them were fidgeting, Jaehwan with his fingers on the strap of his guitar case, and Minhyun with the hem of his own dress shirt. It was Jaehwan who spoke first, saying he had something in his mind that he had been wanting to tell Minhyun for a long time. Minhyun invited him to sit in a coffee shop first and talk.

The rest was history.

The way Jaehwan recalled the story from this timeline’s previous night, however, seemed like it was straight out of a fairy tale—complete with the palaces, the royalty, and the complication of a forbidden relationship. Minhyun leaned to Jaehwan and took a deep breath, the scent of his hair bringing him the comfort of familiarity. “I love you, Jaehwan-ah.”

Jaehwan looked up, curious, and hair disheveled. Minhyun’s eyes softened at the sight of his face. The soft glow of the sunrise almost made Minhyun clutch on his chest in full awe of how beautiful Jaehwan was.

He missed him, them. This. He missed waking up beside him, he missed looking at him. Kissing him. Hugging him and talking to him. He even missed their little fights. The smell of his hair, the voice he used when he called him ‘hyung’ in the bedroom. His touch, his smiles. The comfort Minhyun felt when they were together; the unnecessary worry he had when they were not. The lazy weekends, the mini-lunch dates during Fridays. All of them were taken from Minhyun without a warning, without a clue, and he was trying to fight for it now.

This thought made him question if the Jaehwan in his arms was the Jaehwan that he was with in Seoul, and in the other version of the past. But he was following him, right? At least that was what he understood from the mystery of the old man and the stones he gave Minhyun.

His question was answered soon when Jaehwan spoke, like he could read Minhyun’s mind. “You’re… you’re Minhyun from the present,” he said, words so simple yet held so much meaning to Minhyun—hope, finally; the light at the end of the tunnel, the sunrise that shone beyond them.

Minhyun couldn’t control the tears from his eyes. Jaehwan pulled him into a tight hug and whispered _I miss yous_ and _I love yous_. The sun rose fully, and along with it, a new beginning.

***

Jaehwan told him everything—that this was indeed the version where Minhyun was exiled when he was still young, as ordered by the king who found out that he wasn’t his. That their family, the Guangi kingdom, accepted him well for they were very close before. But as the times changed, Minhyun’s previous kingdom, the Bada Kingdom, was being eyed by Guangi due to its prosperity. Jaehwan was ashamed of the feelings of his family, but because he was the youngest and seen as the weakest, his opinions of peacekeeping didn’t really matter to the King and Queen, especially to the Head of Tactics.

In the garden where they first met as kids, during one of the exclusive competitions hosted by Jaehwan’s family, they talked of how Jaehwan tried to alter the past—that in several different versions of this lifetime, he had always failed to prevent the atrocities that his family was going to commit.

But it was different this time. This time, Jaehwan’s wisdom is complemented with Minhyun’s trust and both of their perseverance to fight for this love. They were hopeful now, because they were facing it together.

So, they came up with a plan.

***

The planned siege of Jaehwan’s family began at twilight. It was the end of summer and the start of fall—just the perfect weather of not too hot and not too cold to better suit the soldier’s fighting capacity. Not less than two thousand men marched as soon as the sun set. After two days of traveling, they were in the border of both Kingdoms.

As soon as the sun rose, the soldiers attacked. However, to the army’s surprise, Bada’s soldiers were ready to receive all of their blows. Before their swords could pierce through the body armors, the enemy was already brought down by poisonous arrows coming from archers carefully positioned in the tall trees of the forest, hidden in plain sight.

The operation wasn’t successful. A quarter of the Guangi army was slain, the others just fled, and some were taken to surrender. Those who surrendered were given another chance at life if they pledged allegiance to the Queen of Bada. News broke out that high officials of the kingdom will visit Guangi to confirm the allegations and to offer reconciliation if it was still possible.

They should be prepared in engaging with the other Kingdom, especially when owning up to the damages their own army had done.

It was clear to Jaehwan’s family that someone had leaked the information and the strategy to the other kingdom. The crown prince, Jaehwan’s eldest brother, knew it for a fact that it was Minhyun. Jaehwan’s father heard of this theory and believed it as well. It could never be pure coincidence that Queen Mihwa knew where and when the attack will happen, especially what type of weapons they would be carrying.

Amidst the chaos happening in the kingdom, Jaehwan sneaked in to Minhyun’s room by dawn. Minhyun was awake and he was quick to guess what news Jaehwan would tell him. “They know that it’s me, right?”

Jaehwan held his hands to comfort him. “You should go into hiding.” He looked at Minhyun’s eyes, they were afraid—he would be separated from Jaehwan again, not knowing if he would be able to bear the uncertainty of what the future held. Especially now that he was fighting time itself, everything, to secure his Jaehwan in the future.

Jaehwan noticed this and assured him of the situation. “I will follow you. I just need to sort things out here in the palace first. You can hide in the storage room by the garden. I will meet you before evening.”

So Minhyun kissed him, made him promise again, and headed to the garden. He waited for Jaehwan to arrive, the minutes melting into hours.

But Jaehwan never came. It was almost midnight and Minhyun was worried about Jaehwan. He could be trapped for all he knew. It was more feasible due to the arrival of Guangi Kingdom’s echelons that morning. But Jaehwan would at least send something to let him know his safety. He promised to meet him and Minhyun knew deep inside him that Jaehwan would never ever back out on his words. Especially not now. Not when they were almost successful at lifting the curse.

Minhyun tried to get out of the storage area as quietly as he could. The guards tonight were of lesser number due to the loss the army had in the battle so it was easier for him to tread around the grounds. He was at the back entrance when he heard the discussion between a guard and the eldest Kim son.

“Your highness. We still cannot find Hwang Minhyun.” The guard reported.

“And my brother?” The eldest brother probed.

“We’ve checked the pulse of your brother and it is confirmed that he is dead.” The guard bowed after the statement.

Minhyun’s eyes widened at the news. He must have misheard that,right? It couldn’t be! Minhyun, finally feeling the weight of each and every word he heard, almost fell on his knees and give out where he was hiding. 

“Where is the body?”

“In his room, Your Highness.”

Despite his shaky knees, Minhyun was quick to sneak past the guards with his need to see Jaehwan. He immediately made his way to Jaehwan’s room. The guards were alerted because of the sudden noise. They rushed towards his direction in an attempt to catch him and punish him for his disloyalty, as ordered by the king.

Minhyun pushed open the door and locked it immediately to prevent the guards from entering. He saw Jaehwan, his lifeless body thoughtfully placed on the bed. The guards at least have respected him even though they had to carry out the deed.

Tears silently fell from Minhyun’s eyes and as soon as he touched him, it became too much. He cupped his cheeks and hugged him, still trying to deny the reality in front of him. It’s here again, the feeling of losing him, the feeling of helplessness on what is happening. He thought he had their chance. They have tried their best to rewrite their future--it was full of laughter and of hope. Oh, hope. Hope is a dangerous poison.

He cried and screamed but it was never enough. He needed to get out of here and find the old man. He could probably help him, help them. He didn’t care how. If he needed to reset time, he should. Whatever it took—he needed Jaehwan back safely.

Minhyun kissed his forehead one last time and broke out through the window, just in time as the soldiers were about to open the room’s entrance. Tears streamed down his face as he ran, the chill of the night making his face numb; but not enough to take away the searing pain he felt—desperateness, in his hollow chest. They were supposed to be able to make it this time. Together.

Minhyun found himself in front of the old place where he saw the old man, in the past version they went into. The many trinkets were still there. He entered the store to find him—the man that brought him here, to this very version of the past—to ask him how taking Jaehwan’s life could dissipate the gravity of his family’s sins.

The man was behind the counter. There was an urge to punch him, hurt him, if only for Minhyun to feel something else, but he could only sob.

“Why—why did you bring me here if—” Minhyun couldn’t continue. He saw the sadness in the old man’s eyes, and though he knew he was not feeling as much pain as Minhyun was, he knew that he was mourning with him. It wasn’t enough, but it was something that anchored Minhyun to sanity.

Tears were flowing so much from his eyes, it was harder to see. “You told me about the string. It was severed but…” Minhyun knelt, the weight of his loss is too much that he was losing his strength. “Everyone forgot about him, but not me. Our string was cut but I still know him. This—this love that we have for each other…”

The old man stood up from where he was sitting and knelt in front of him as well as if to console him. “Is too strong that no matter how much the universe cuts the connection, you will always, always find your way to each other.”

The last thing that Minhyun saw is an emerald light glowing from his pocket.

***

Minhyun woke up with the sun warming up his face. He was afraid that if he opened his eyes, the things that happened last night would become unmendable. His body felt stiff and moving made him groan, if only he has the voice. Opening his eyes, he felt his heart sink a thousand meters deeper.

The place was familiar, where he is. Too familiar. And all of it reminded him of Jaehwan. The lamp on his bedside table was turned off and the memories tied with choosing to buy it pained him. The story behind the color of his curtain hurt him too. All of what he can see it somewhat meaningful to both of them and that fact hurt. He’s at the present time and he felt hopeless. The universe was just too cruel.

Warm tears flowed and soft sobs were next. Remembering what happened before he passed out was just inevitable. He didn’t know if he was capable of loving as much as this, that he felt pain as worse. And he questioned why the universe hated them so much—that even if they succeeded to prevent an awful thing from happening, it still ended up with the two of them, tragically separated.

Jaehwan believed he was cursed but at this point in time, Minhyun believed both of them are.

He pushed himself to move and stand up to get water. The exhaustion from running and crying from the other lifetime had followed him here. As he pulled the handle of the fridge, a small paper fell.

It was a sticky note of neon-pink color. It read: “A student called. Had to go. Love you tons.”

Minhyun ran back to his room, his previous task left unfinished. He turned the room upside down to find his smartphone. He found it in one of the pants by the chair. Before he even found Jaehwan’s phone number to dial it, he heard someone come in by the door. Minhyun dashed and he almost lost his balance.

“Hey, the student cancelled so I came back.” Jaehwan smiled at him as he put his guitar case down.

Minhyun hugged him—the tightest that he could. Minhyun couldn’t even start talking, he just knew he was happy to be able to hold him again.

Jaehwan was giggling, unable to hold his happiness as well. “Hey, hey. I’m not going anywhere. You have me.” Minhyun pulled back and just stared at him.

“I think the curse is lifted.” Jaehwan clarified.

Minhyun is confused, still not letting go of Jaehwan’s hand. “But you remember it all, right?”

Jaehwan lead him to the bedroom with take-out coffee at hand. “When I died in the past I woke up here, in the present time. But you were still asleep then so I wasn’t sure if your consciousness followed and replaced your current one. I was just happy to be back here, and have another chance with you.”

They met by chance. Or maybe that’s what Minhyun believed before. Now he knew they were destined. No matter how many lifetimes the universe gave them, they will still, against all odds, find one another. And fall deeper and deeper.

And there was no force stronger than their love for each other.

Throughout the day, Minhyun asked him a lot of things, of details; as if not believing that everything they’ve been through really happened.

“And these ‘lifetimes’, Minhyun air-quoted. “You remember all of them?”

Jaehwan stopped playing with Minhyun’s hand and cupped his cheeks instead. “Yes. Every single one. There was one where you and I were stuck in a cabin together during a storm for a whole night. And we _kind of_ confessed to each other.” Minhyun looked surprised.

“There’s another one where you and I were both doctors, but a different kind. We helped people with their memories and stuff. Oh! And another one where we were both idols. We were in a group together at first. I remember one night, you punished me so hard in bed because I was playing around with one of our co-members in front of the camera.” Jaehwan told him excitedly as Minhyun hid himself behind one of the pillows. It was a good choice to debrief on the bed. “And then I pursued a career as a solo artist, and the first time you saw my performance you were so aroused.” He winked at Minhyun who hid himself further.

Jaehwan pulled him into a hug, soothing Minhyun. “Then there’s this one where we’re both country bums, inexperienced and all. We were each other’s first time. It was beautiful.”

“It’s bad that I don’t remember them.” Minhyun looked at him, and Jaehwan shook his head slowly as if to say that remembering it all had its drawbacks too (like the pain and suffering he goes through every time they have to separate.) Minhyun kissed him on the cheek before finally asking, “So among all the lifetimes you’ve gone through with me, what is the best one?”

Jaehwan stared into his eyes and took his hand. He kissed it before guiding it to caress his cheek, smiling and leaning in to close the gap between their lips.

“This one.” Jaehwan assured him.

Minhyun had never felt so at home than he does now.

**The end.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of our second round of Tag Writing Challenge: MinHwan Universe!AU.  
> To all the writers: Thank you for joining and creating a beautiful fic. We're really grateful because of your enthusiasm and we're sorry for any mistakes or inconvinience during your writing time.  
> To all the readers: We hope you had a wonderful ride with our work and thank you so so much for supporting and leaving cheerful comments! We appreciate every single ones and they helped us a lot to keep going ^^
> 
> Thank you all once again and we hope to see you guys in another round (if there is any xD)
> 
> If you are curious about our challenge as well as want to leave comments/suggestions, visit us on [twitter](https://twitter.com/home) or [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/WritingTag)

**Author's Note:**

> If you reach to this point, thank you so so much~ Kudos and comments are always appreciated. Please give a lot of love to our amazing writers ^^  
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